What We've Been Up To

For several issues, I have sacrificed the space reserved for this column to include more interesting and useful articles, but it is time to give you an update on what is happening at Linux Journal.

Despite several setbacks, including my computer dying, LJ has improved over the past few months, as we are told over and over again in letters to the editor. However, we see much more room for improvement—and the more subscribers we have, the faster we are able to improve. Our thanks to all our subscribers!

Our greatest improvements will come from our readers. There is only so much that we can write; you, our readers, use Linux for things that we haven't thought of yet. In this issue, for instance, you'll read how Vance Petree at Virgina Power has implemented a system for managing large amounts of data using Linux systems (see page 23). In our September issue, Greg Wettstein wrote about using Linux to manage patient care for a large cancer research center. It is our policy to print at least one article each month about how Linux is being used in the real world, but we are dependent on you, our readers, to keep us informed.

We have hired several new staff members to process all our new subscription orders and to spend more time editing the articles. We have designed short monthly features with useful information, including ftp sites where information about Linux is available. Over the last few issues, we have instituted a policy of including a guide to available applicable resources of all types (including Internet sites, WWW URLs, and books) with most articles. We are now in the process of publishing a book called The Linux Sampler, filled with a mix of articles from Linux Journal, with sections on Linux history, systems administration, resources, and real world applications.

We exhibited at Unix Expo, as was covered in last month's Linux Journal, and helped make technical contacts between Linux developers and hardware and software vendors interested in Linux. We sponsored a two-day Linux Conference at Open Systems World in December, which included several short classes on a variety of topics and one full-day tutorial introduction to Linux.

Also, we like having fun with Linux just as much as the rest of you do. Many of you have seen our “My Other Computer Is a Linux System” stickers and t-shirts; we are now offering a Linux bumpersticker, and we sell other Linux-related products through our catalog. If you have other ideas for fun Linux-related items, feel free to send them to linux@ssc.com.