Linux Journal

The Preservation and Continuation of the Iconic Linux Journal

Matthew R. Higgins — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 22:19:09 +0000

Editor's note: Thank you to returning contributor Matthew Higgins for these reflections on what the return and preservation of Linux Journal means.

As we welcome the return of Linux Journal, it’s worth recognizing the impact of the September 22nd announcement of the magazine’s return and how it sparked many feelings of nostalgia and excitement in thousands among the Linux community. That being said, it is also worth noting that the ways in which journalism has changed since Linux Journal’s first publication in 1994. The number of printed magazines have significantly decreased and exclusively digitally published content has become the norm in most cases. Linux Journal experienced this change in 2011 when the print version of the magazine was discontinued. Although many resented the change, it is far from the only magazine that embraced this trend. Despite the bitterness by some, embracing the digital version of Linux Journal allowed for its writers and publishers to direct their focus on taking full advantage of what the internet had to offer.

Despite several advantages of an online publishing format, one concern that was becoming increasingly concerning for Linux Journal until September 22nd, 2020 was the survival of the Linux Journal website. If the website were to have shut down, the community would have potentially lost access to hundreds (or thousands) of articles and documents that were only published on the Linux Journal website and were not collectively available anywhere else. Even if an individual possessed the archive of the monthly issues of the journal, an attempt to republish it would be potentially legally problematic and would certainly show a lack of consideration for the rights of the authors who originally wrote the articles.

Thanks to Slashdot Media, however, the Linux community no longer needs to express concern over the potential loss of the official Linux Journal archive of publications for the foreseeable future. Given its recent return, it seems like an appropriate time to emphasize the important role that Linux Journal played (and will continue to play) in the Linux community since 1994 and the opportunity to continue this role as the number of Linux users and enthusiasts continues to grow. The journal provides readers with access to several decades of articles and content that date back to the earliest days of Linux. Furthermore, Linux Journal preserves this content as an archive that tells a fascinating history of the kernel and the community built around it.

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Linux Journal is Back

Webmaster — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 18:15:04 +0000

by Webmaster

As of today, Linux Journal is back, and operating under the ownership of Slashdot Media.

As Linux enthusiasts and long-time fans of Linux Journal, we were disappointed to hear about Linux Journal closing its doors last year. It took some time, but fortunately we were able to get a deal done that allows us to keep Linux Journal alive now and indefinitely. It's important that amazing resources like Linux Journal never disappear.

If you're a former Linux Journal contributor or a Linux enthusiast that would like to get involved, please contact us and let us know the capacity in which you'd like to contribute. We're looking for people to cover Linux news, create Linux guides, and moderate the community and comments. We'd also appreciate any other ideas or feedback you might have. Right now, we don't have any immediate plans to resurrect the subscription/issue model, and will be publishing exclusively on LinuxJournal.com free of charge. Our immediate goal is to familiarize ourself with the Linux Journal website and ensure it doesn't ever get shut down again.

Many of you are probably already aware of Slashdot Media, but for those who aren't, we own and operate Slashdot and SourceForge: two iconic open source software and technology websites that have been around for decades. We didn't always own SourceForge, but we acquired it in 2016, and immediately began improving, and have since come a long way in restoring and growing one of the most important resources in open source. We'd like to do the same here. We're ecstatic to be able to take the helm at Linux Journal, and ensure that this legendary Linux resource and community not only stays alive forever, but continues to grow and improve.

Reach out if you'd like to get involved!

Update Wednesday, September 23rd @ 3:43pm PST: Thanks for the great response to Linux Journal being revived! We're overwhelmed with the thousands of emails so it may take a bit of time to get back to you. This came together last minute as a way to avoid losing 25+ years of Linux history so bear with us as we get organized.

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Linux Journal Ceases Publication: An Awkward Goodbye

Kyle Rankin — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 01:55:28 +0000

by Kyle Rankin

Update: As of September 22nd, 2020, Linux Journal is back under the ownership of Slashdot Media.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM LINUX JOURNAL, LLC:

On August 7, 2019, Linux Journal shut its doors for good. All staff were laid off and the company is left with no operating funds to continue in any capacity. The website will continue to stay up for the next few weeks, hopefully longer for archival purposes if we can make it happen.

–Linux Journal, LLC

Final Letter from the Editor: The Awkward Goodbye

by Kyle Rankin

Have you ever met up with a friend at a restaurant for dinner, then after dinner you both step out to the street and say a proper goodbye, only when you leave, you find out that you both are walking in the same direction? So now, you get to walk together awkwardly until the true point where you part, and then you have another, second goodbye, that's much more awkward.

That's basically this post.

So, it was almost two years ago that I first said goodbye to Linux Journal and the Linux Journal community in my post "So Long and Thanks for All the Bash". That post was a proper goodbye. For starters, it had a catchy title with a pun. The post itself had all the elements of a proper goodbye: part retrospective, part "Thank You" to the Linux Journal team and the community, and OK, yes, it was also part rant. I recommend you read (or re-read) that post, because it captures my feelings about losing Linux Journal way better than I can muster here on our awkward second goodbye.

Of course, not long after I wrote that post, we found out that Linux Journal wasn't dead after all! We all actually had more time together and got to work fixing everything that had caused us to die in the first place. A lot of our analysis of what went wrong and what we intended to change was captured in my article "What Linux Journal's Resurrection Taught Me about the FOSS Community" that we posted in our 25th anniversary issue.

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The DevOps Issue

Bryan Lunduke — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 15:00:00 +0000

by Bryan Lunduke

Every few years a new term is coined within the computer industry—big data, machine learning, agile development, Internet of Things, just to name a few. You'd be forgiven for not knowing them all.

Some of these are new ideas. Some are refinements on existing ideas. Others still are simply notions we've all had for a long time, but now we have a new word to describe said notions.

Which brings me to a topic we cover in depth in this issue of Linux Journal: DevOps.

Not sure what DevOps is? Need it explained to you? It's okay, I was in the same boat. Start off by reading "Experts Attempt to Explain DevOps—and Almost Succeed" to get a high-level explanation of what this whole DevOps brouhaha is all about.

Once you've got the concept of DevOps firmly implanted in your brain, it's time to dive in and look at how specific parts of DevOps can be implemented, starting with "Continuous Integration/Continuous Development with FOSS Tools" by Quentin Hartman, Director of Infrastructure and DevOps at Finalze.

Next, turn to Linux Journal's very own Editor at Large (and senior performance software engineer at Cray), Petros Koutoupis, for a look at how to install and utilize Ansible to deploy and configure large numbers of Linux servers all at once. It's a nifty tool to have in your toolbelt, especially when looking to do things "The DevOps Way".

Okay, you've got the idea of DevOps, and you know some of the tools you can utilize with it as you build out a big, expansive online service. But what does a truly excellent system really look like? What components does it consist of? How does one go about selecting said components?

Luckily, we've got Kyle Rankin's aptly titled "My Favorite Infrastructure" to answer those questions. Linux Journal's illustrious Tech Editor (and Chief Security Officer at Purism) gives a tour of, what he considers to be, the best infrastructure he ever built. Including details on the architecture, configuration management, security and disaster recovery.

Oh, but we're not done! Ever want to build an OpenStack implementation on top of Fedora, openSUSE or Debian? John S. Tonello, the Global Technical Marketing Manager at SUSE, walks through exactly that with the help of free software tools like Kolla, Docker, qemu and pip. It's a veritable smorgasbord of Linux server-y goodness.

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The Command-Line Issue

Bryan Lunduke — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 15:00:00 +0000

by Bryan Lunduke

Summer. 1980-something. An elementary-school-attending, Knight Rider-T-Shirt-wearing version of myself slowly rolls out of bed and shuffles to the living room. There, nestled between an imposingly large potted plant and an over-stocked knick-knack shelf, rested a beautifully gray, metallic case powered by an Intel 80286 processor—with a glorious, 16-color EGA monitor resting atop.

This was to be my primary resting place for the remainder of the day: in front of the family computer.

That PC had no graphical user interface to speak of—no X Window System, no Microsoft Windows, no Macintosh Finder. There was just a simple command line—in this case, MS-DOS. (This was long before Linux became a thing.) Every task I wished to perform—executing a game, moving files—required me to type the commands in via a satisfyingly loud, clicky keyboard. No, "required" isn't the right word here. Using the computer was a joy. "Allowed" is the right word. I was allowed to enjoy typing those commands in. I never once resented that my computer needed to be interacted with via a keyboard. That is, after all, what computers do. That's what they're for—you type in commands, and the computer executes them for you, often with a "beep".

For a kid, this was empowering—taking my rudimentary understanding of language (aided, at first, by a handy DOS command cheat sheet) and weaving together strings of words that commanded the computer to do my bidding. It was like organizing runes to enact an ancient spell. It was magic. And I was a wizard. Did I miss not being able to "double click" or "drag and drop"? Of course not. I'd seen some such, mouse-driven user interfaces (like the early Macintoshes) but—from my vantage—that wasn't how computers really worked. I viewed such things as cool-looking, but not necessary. Computers use words. Powerful, magical words.

But this isn't 1980-something. In fact, it's barely 2010-something. (Did anyone else just realize that it's almost 2020?) For better or worse, how people use—and view—computers has changed dramatically since the days of Knight Rider. Modern operating systems are, often, belittled if they require users to interact with the machine via a command line. The graphical user interface is king. Which is, perhaps, the inevitable evolution of how we all interact with our computers.

Yet the value of the command line (or terminal, shell and so on) is still there. For many, it makes using computers more accessible. For others, it provides streamlined workflows that a mouse or touch-driven interface simply can't compete with. And, for others still, the blinking cursor provides a bit of nostalgic joy—or an aesthetically simple, and distraction free, environment.

This issue of Linux Journal celebrates the cursor—that wonderful blinking underscore and all the potential that it holds.

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Linux Journal ASCII Art Contest

Bryan Lunduke — Mon, 13 May 2019 20:34:30 +0000

by Bryan Lunduke

Do you have l33t ASCII/ANSI art skillz? Your work could grace the cover of Linux Journal!

That's right—your ASCII art on the cover of the longest-running Linux publication on the planet.

What the artwork is depicting is, really, up to you. But, since this is Linux Journal, here are a few good ideas:

Something involving Tux the Penguin.
Something involving Linux in general.
Something involving terminals or computers in general.
Something else entirely, so long as it makes us think, "Gee, Linux is awesome."

How to submit your entry:

Make sure your ASCII or ANSI artwork is saved as an image file (jpg or png) that is roughly 1600 x 1600 (give or take—larger is fine as well).
Email that image, along with how you want your name to appear, to ljeditor@linuxjournal.com.
Make sure it's postmarked (yeah, I know, that's not really a thing with email, but I felt like using that word today) by June 1, 2019.

FAQ:

Q: Should my ASCII/ANSI art use colors?
A: Up to you!
Q: Should I also include the raw text version of the ASCII art when I submit it?
A: Sure! That'd be groovy!
Q: How awesome will I feel when I see my ASCII art on the cover of Linux Journal?
A: Very.

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The Kernel Issue

Bryan Lunduke — Wed, 01 May 2019 15:00:00 +0000

by Bryan Lunduke

How much do you know about your kernel? Like really know?

Considering how critically important the Linux kernel is to the world—and, perhaps just as important, to our own personal computers and gadgets—it's rather amazing how little most people actually know about it.

There might as well be magical hamsters in there, pushing 1s and 0s around with their enchanted hamster gloves of computing power. How do kernels (in a general sense) actually work, anyway? How does one sit down and debug a specific Linux kernel issue? How does a kernel allocate and work with the memory in your computer? Those are questions most of us never need to ask—because Linux works.

Me, personally? Never submitted a single patch to the kernel. Not one.

I mean, sure. I've looked at little snippets of Linux kernel source code—mostly out of idle curiosity or to investigate a topic for a story. And I've compiled the kernel plenty of times to get one hardware driver or feature working. But, even so, my knowledge of the inner-workings of the kernel is mostly limited to "Linux power user" level.

So, it's time for a little kernel boot camp in this issue of Linux Journal to get a bit more up to speed.

Let's start with the basics. What is a kernel, and how, exactly, does a person go about making a brand-new one? Like...from scratch.

Linux Journal Editor at Large Petros Koutoupis previously has walked us through building a complete Linux distribution (starting from the very basics—see Part I and Part II). Now he does the same thing, but this time for building a brand-new kernel.

What tools are needed? What code must be written? Petros provides a step-by-step rundown of kernel building. In the end, you'll have a fully functional kernel (well, functional enough to boot a computer, at any rate) that you can build on further. Plus, you'll have a better understanding of how kernels actually work, which is pretty darn cool.

Moving back to Linux land, Frank Edwards gives a rundown on how the kernel handles memory: how virtual memory works and is structured, how the kernel reports memory usage and information to userland applications and the like. If you've ever wondered how the memory in your system is structured and interacted with by the applications and the kernel, give that a read.

Now that you know the basics of how to build a kernel, and a primer on how memory is used, let's turn to something directly practical for Linux developers and pro users: debugging Linux kernel panics.

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Party Like It's 1994

Carlie Fairchild — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 14:07:35 +0000

by Carlie Fairchild

THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED

Issue #1 of Linux Journal was released 25 years ago this month. To celebrate, we're partying like it's 1994! We're offering 1-year subscriptions for—you guessed it—just $19.94. That's almost $15 off our regular price. Unfortunately, this price is not sustainable for us long-run so we can only offer this special rate through April 11, 2019. If you can, subscribe now. It's a great rate for a magazine that has a lot of love put in to it each month. :-D

Follow this link for the discounted rate: https://subscribe.linuxjournal.com/LJ/?PK=M94AN19

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A Big Thanks to Our Subscribers

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 12:30:00 +0000

by Anonymous (not verified)

We asked LJ subscribers to write in and tell us about themselves, so we could feature them in our 25th Anniversary Issue as a way to thank them for their loyalty through the years. The response was so overwhelming, we were able to include only a few of them in the issue, but read on to see all of the responses here and to learn more about your fellow readers. We truly enjoyed "meeting" all of you who participated and are humbled by your words of support.

We asked readers to give their name, how long they've been subscribers and why, their favorite LJ memory and their first distro. Note that submissions have been edited for clarity. Also note that if you sent in a message and don't see it here, we apologize in advance for the oversight. And in some cases, we were unable to publish photos that were too small, so if your photo is missing, that's likely the reason.

Guillermo Giménez de Castro (a.k.a. Guigue)

I've been a subscriber since February 1996, regularly. I've never missed a renewal. I subscribe because I don't find anywhere else a place where Open Source, the Bazaar Philosophy, and Linux itself are better advocated. I have to say that every month I receive the new issue is a joy, with the first quick read to see what is new. But probably my best memory is the picture included here. It was taken during a session for the "Picture of the Month" LJ contest in 2004. My wife shot a few dozens of photos and I sent a different one (and won!!). In one picture, my son Manuel appears with me on top of my printed collection. Now he is in his 20s and is a Linux hacker. My first distro was SLS with kernel version 0.99 patch level 12. I hope to send a similar email 25 years from now. Happy Anniversary!

David Barton My first LJ was the last print issue published. I subscribe because we all need a way to come up with new ideas. Professionally written articles are an excellent source of both ideas and well described ways to implement them. A single good idea is worth far more than a year's subscription. Also, I like to keep up with my favourite OS! My favourite memory is when you came back, and also when my first article came out. My first distribution was probably Slackware around 1997.

I manage hosting for 100s of custom software databases, and Linux is secure, fast, robust and easy to administer. I also use Linux because it gives me the same power I have on the server on my desktop.

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What Linux Journal's Resurrection Taught Me about the FOSS Community

Kyle Rankin — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 11:30:00 +0000

by Kyle Rankin

"Marley was dead, to begin with."—Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

As you surely know by now, Linux Journal started in 1994, which means it has been around for most of the Linux story. A lot has changed since then, and it's not surprising that Linux and the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community are very different today from what they were for Linux Journal's first issue 25 years ago. The changes within the community during this time had a direct impact on Linux Journal and contributed to its death, making Linux Journal's story a good lens through which to view the overall story of the FOSS community. Although I haven't been with Linux Journal since the beginning, I was there during the heyday, the stroke, the decline, the death and the resurrection. This article is about that story and what it says about how the FOSS community has changed.

It's also a pretty personal story.

A Bit about Me

Although it's true that I sometimes write about personal projects in my articles and may disclose some personal details from time to time, I generally try not to talk too much about my personal life, but as it's useful to frame this story, here we go. I grew up in an era when personal computers were quite expensive (even more so, now that I account for inflation), and it wasn't very common to grow up with one in your home.

In high school, I took my first computer class in BASIC programming. This class fundamentally changed me. Early on in the class I knew that I wanted to change any past career plans and work with computers instead. My family noticed this change, and my grandparents and mother found the money to buy my first computer: a Tandy 1000 RLX. Although there certainly were flashier or more popular computers, it did come with a hard drive (40MB!), which was still pretty novel at the time. Every time I learned a new BASIC command in school, I would spend the following evenings at home figuring out every way I could use that new-found knowledge in my own software.

I never got internet access during high school (my mom saw the movie WarGames and was worried if I had internet access, I might accidentally trigger a house call from the FBI). This just made it all the more exciting when I went to college and not only got a modern computer, but also high-speed campus internet! Like most people, I was tempted to experiment in college. In my case, in 1998 a neighbor in my dorm brought over a series of Red Hat 5.1 floppies (the original 5.1, not RHEL) and set up a dual-boot environment on my computer. The first install was free.

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