5 ms·

Saved by the readers. This is great news. Maybe they should also find additional funding via something like Patreon or even a Kickstarter campaign?

by sgt 9y ago

proginthebox 9y ago
Its a subscription magazine. So, Patreon will be useful for people who do not really want to read the magazine but donate the money anyway. Not sure how that would work.
- michaelmcmillan 9y ago
  It would probably work the same way it got saved: Supporting great work is a good in and of itself.
- ChickeNES 9y ago
  Why not offer a digital edition through Patreon?
  - Xylakant 9y ago
    Why not offer a digital edition as subscription?
    - syshum 9y ago
      The appeal of patreon for many is the fact they do not have to manage their support/subscriptions at multiple locations, or have to give out their payment info to multiple sites You sign up for single site and can support 100's of people and get rewards like a digital subscription. You would be surprised how much more donations can pick up if you eliminate even one form field let alone the entire form. People are lazy, they are even more lazy when they are giving money, the easier you make it the better
      - w0m 9y ago
        If they are a subscription service anyway; what would the value be?
        pfranz 9y ago
        I can only speak for myself. I have no idea what would make a sustainable business model. A few years ago I had a sustaining membership to a very popular public radio program. I dunno if it was a dark pattern, an oversight when overhauling their webpage, or what, but when I had to update my credit card number because it changed and I could not figure out how. None of the email contacts got any response. I eventually cancelled the old number and I've been hesitant of reoccurring transactions since. Conversely, I would use PayPal to manage other reoccurring donations. I've adjusted the amount, updated my credit card, and canceled without issue. I was never a fan of PayPal and closed my account a few years ago, and this activity seems to have migrated to Patreon. The web is weird and surprisingly still lagging cash and brick & mortar in many areas. People are soured to the experience of buying music and merchandise from a variety of sources and have been funneled to specific retailers like iTunes and Amazon.
        syshum 9y ago
        Value to who? I already laid out the value to the Subscriber was I unclear? It is more convenient for the individual subscriber to have 1 Patreon account to support many people, than for them to have many many accounts with many individuals sites. Where they have to manage their CC info, update expiration dates, etc Even with something like PayPal ask anyone that has ever done Reoccurring translations on PayPal and they will tell you what a nightmare it is to get people to update their CC Info Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better
        w0m 9y ago
        I generally despise the concept of ~infinity recurring payments, I want giving someone money to be an active thought. >Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better I see Patreons base model as to get people to sign up and forget about it. Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but it's just.. ick.
aw3c2 9y ago
> Saved by the readers is actually "specifically, by the hackers who run Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN, a London Trust Media company" which does not sound like a sustaining solution and absolutely not like the community of readers.
- IgorPartola 9y ago
  Is it really that bad? A sustainable corporate sponsor is likely better than a fickle community. Think about how many corporations also sponsor or own weird side ventures that may or may not actually produce profit, but are there for prestige, status, or just good of the world. Check out http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide-2014-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide...
  - craftyguy 9y ago
    How much will PIA influence Linux Journal now? I don't see having a single company responsible for the survival of a journalism outfit as a good thing at all. I hope I am wrong and we are not inundated with PIA spam.
    - IgorPartola 9y ago
      If we are, so be it. LJ was very much dying and would be dead in 2018. This way it gets another chance and if PIA doesn't fuck it up, gets to potentially thrive. If PIA does fuck it up, well, it was going to die this year anyways. We are no worse off, and potentially better off with this situation. I have no relationship with PIA. I have written two articles for LJ a few years ago, and they very much struggled to pay me afterwards.
      - gonzo 9y ago
        I wrote three articles for LJ over the years and always took my fee in trade for an extended subscription.
    - mmjaa 9y ago
pjmlp 9y ago
I was a Linux Journal subscriber during the mid-90's until around 2005. It was a great magazine and one of the few ones with good technical content related to UNIX like OSes. Lately there was little difference to the pile of Linux Something magazines that are still being printed, or blogs and technical journals scattered around the Web. So it remains to be seen if the 2.0 changes will be enough to save it. We already lost DDJ and The C/C++ Users Journal.
- boudewijnrempt 9y ago
  I started reading it... With issue 4 or so. It introduced me to Qt, which is why I have bread and a roof and so on right now. But around 2008 or so, it went so very, very boring and around that time, or a bit later, digital-only. I stopped reading it.
- vram22 9y ago
  >We already lost DDJ and The C/C++ Users Journal. And JDJ and Java Report (AFAIK, last saw them years ago - in print versions).
- mmjaa 9y ago
  But! We have things like PoC||GTFO to keep us perfectly well entertained! /ddj waaa! :(

Saved by the readers. This is great news. Maybe they should also find additional funding via something like Patreon or even a Kickstarter campaign?

by sgt 9y ago

Saved by the readers. This is great news. Maybe they should also find additional funding via something like Patreon or even a Kickstarter campaign?

proginthebox 9y ago

Its a subscription magazine. So, Patreon will be useful for people who do not really want to read the magazine but donate the money anyway. Not sure how that would work.

michaelmcmillan 9y ago
It would probably work the same way it got saved: Supporting great work is a good in and of itself.
ChickeNES 9y ago
Why not offer a digital edition through Patreon?
- Xylakant 9y ago
  Why not offer a digital edition as subscription?
  - syshum 9y ago
    The appeal of patreon for many is the fact they do not have to manage their support/subscriptions at multiple locations, or have to give out their payment info to multiple sites You sign up for single site and can support 100's of people and get rewards like a digital subscription. You would be surprised how much more donations can pick up if you eliminate even one form field let alone the entire form. People are lazy, they are even more lazy when they are giving money, the easier you make it the better
    - w0m 9y ago
      If they are a subscription service anyway; what would the value be?
      - pfranz 9y ago
        I can only speak for myself. I have no idea what would make a sustainable business model. A few years ago I had a sustaining membership to a very popular public radio program. I dunno if it was a dark pattern, an oversight when overhauling their webpage, or what, but when I had to update my credit card number because it changed and I could not figure out how. None of the email contacts got any response. I eventually cancelled the old number and I've been hesitant of reoccurring transactions since. Conversely, I would use PayPal to manage other reoccurring donations. I've adjusted the amount, updated my credit card, and canceled without issue. I was never a fan of PayPal and closed my account a few years ago, and this activity seems to have migrated to Patreon. The web is weird and surprisingly still lagging cash and brick & mortar in many areas. People are soured to the experience of buying music and merchandise from a variety of sources and have been funneled to specific retailers like iTunes and Amazon.
      - syshum 9y ago
        Value to who? I already laid out the value to the Subscriber was I unclear? It is more convenient for the individual subscriber to have 1 Patreon account to support many people, than for them to have many many accounts with many individuals sites. Where they have to manage their CC info, update expiration dates, etc Even with something like PayPal ask anyone that has ever done Reoccurring translations on PayPal and they will tell you what a nightmare it is to get people to update their CC Info Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better
        w0m 9y ago
        I generally despise the concept of ~infinity recurring payments, I want giving someone money to be an active thought. >Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better I see Patreons base model as to get people to sign up and forget about it. Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but it's just.. ick.

aw3c2 9y ago

> Saved by the readers is actually "specifically, by the hackers who run Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN, a London Trust Media company" which does not sound like a sustaining solution and absolutely not like the community of readers.

IgorPartola 9y ago
Is it really that bad? A sustainable corporate sponsor is likely better than a fickle community. Think about how many corporations also sponsor or own weird side ventures that may or may not actually produce profit, but are there for prestige, status, or just good of the world. Check out http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide-2014-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide...
- craftyguy 9y ago
  How much will PIA influence Linux Journal now? I don't see having a single company responsible for the survival of a journalism outfit as a good thing at all. I hope I am wrong and we are not inundated with PIA spam.
  - IgorPartola 9y ago
    If we are, so be it. LJ was very much dying and would be dead in 2018. This way it gets another chance and if PIA doesn't fuck it up, gets to potentially thrive. If PIA does fuck it up, well, it was going to die this year anyways. We are no worse off, and potentially better off with this situation. I have no relationship with PIA. I have written two articles for LJ a few years ago, and they very much struggled to pay me afterwards.
    - gonzo 9y ago
      I wrote three articles for LJ over the years and always took my fee in trade for an extended subscription.
  - mmjaa 9y ago

pjmlp 9y ago

I was a Linux Journal subscriber during the mid-90's until around 2005. It was a great magazine and one of the few ones with good technical content related to UNIX like OSes. Lately there was little difference to the pile of Linux Something magazines that are still being printed, or blogs and technical journals scattered around the Web. So it remains to be seen if the 2.0 changes will be enough to save it. We already lost DDJ and The C/C++ Users Journal.

boudewijnrempt 9y ago
I started reading it... With issue 4 or so. It introduced me to Qt, which is why I have bread and a roof and so on right now. But around 2008 or so, it went so very, very boring and around that time, or a bit later, digital-only. I stopped reading it.
vram22 9y ago
>We already lost DDJ and The C/C++ Users Journal. And JDJ and Java Report (AFAIK, last saw them years ago - in print versions).
mmjaa 9y ago
But! We have things like PoC||GTFO to keep us perfectly well entertained! /ddj waaa! :(