I've been a regular reader from the kiosk for a long time, and I've thought about a subscription to your magazine. But since the April issue (Issue 77), I've been confused about your future. On Page 8, there is an article about Microsoft, and on the Preview page (Page 98), the highlights for next month feature Windows Vista.
I'm thinking that you are missing the way of your readers. I don't need information about Microsoft products -- there are a lot of magazines with that information. I am more interested in articles about the open source world and helpful discussions of Linux or Linux applications.
I would also be interested in more articles on the TCP/IP environment, as well as SNMP and management functions. You are doing this now, but you could use more on these topics.
Peter Al
| LM |
Thank you for your comments. We addressed this issue at length in last month's "Living with Vista" issue (Issue #78/May 2007). We realize that other magazines are devoted to covering Windows Vista; however, as we stated last month, we feel the Windows-based magazines are too dependent on spoon-fed information from Microsoft. We wanted to take a close look at Windows Vista from the Linux perspective. Linux systems and Windows systems frequently inhabit the same networks, and you know that any fresh insight on how to make them interoperate is probably not going to be coming from the Windows side.
Our "Living with Vista" issue focused primarily on topics that would be of interest to Linux users, such as filesharing and dual-boot. The discussion of Microsoft on page 8 of the April issue (which you mention) was simply a small announcement stating that Vista had been released. In that case, also, the focus was on the possible impact for the Linux environment.
I am by far a newbie when it comes to the Linux world. My first contact with Linux was when I was waiting for my wife in the mall and I found a magazine that had a demo DVD of SUSE 7.5. I bought the magazine, and I have been hooked on Linux ever since.
I now run a server and host a site for the local fire department. I look forward to your magazine every month and find myself reading it many times.
I also try to download distros from all over the web just to play. Yellow Dog 3, I have found, will work well on the G3s but not so well on the G4. I am now looking at Yellow Dog 5 for a Sony PlayStation.
I run both Intel and PPC systems. Most of your DVDs are aimed at the Intel-based machines.
I would like to know if you could do a DVD for the PPC once a year.
Bob Phillips
| LM |
We have often considered the possibility of including a PowerPC-based Linux distro on a DVD. The problem is that the majority of our readers wouldn't be able to use it, since most of our readership reports a preference for the x86 architecture. Many observers are even wondering about the future of the PPC for personal computing, since Apple has decided to go Intel for future Macintosh systems.
We have included articles on the PowerPC in the past, and we will continue to cover the PPC as long as it continues as a viable platform for Linux, but as of now, a future PowerPC DVD is not on our list.