Linux Voice – Issue 1 – Review

On Saturday I received an email from Linux Voice with download instructions for Issue 1. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Linux Voice, but it’s a brand new crowd-funded Linux magazine (they ran an IndieGoGo campaign in November/December 2013).

It’s in print and digital formats. They needed £90,000 to get it up and running. In the end they raised £127,603.

But I Don’t Buy Magazines Any More?

I haven’t bought a magazine for several years. There’s so much information on the web these days that I don’t really bother with them any more. But, still glowing from the success of the HDMIPi KickStarter, I’ve been trying to support other crowd-funded projects. One of the things I really liked about Linux Voice was that they are proposing to give 50% of any profits they make towards funding free and open source software projects (presumably Linux related). This is kind of nice, and made me want to support them.

So I downloaded the file and tweeted about it after I’d read the first few pages. Mike “@recantha #CamJam” Horne suggested a blog review (so blame him ;).

Well Written and Edited

I read the first 40 pages on Saturday. The writing and editing is of a very good standard. Certainly within the first 40 pages, I don’t think I spotted any errors. (In my opinion one error per page is acceptable, but many more than that is annoying and sloppy. I don’t look for them, but they jump out at me.)

The layout is very good, the graphics are good, and I like the way it’s been put together. The articles are interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading the account of their crowd-funding rollercoaster ride. It’s something I can relate to.

There’s also a really nice technical description of Bitcoin and how the system works. I’d heard a lot about it, but never taken the time to research it. Now I know a little more.

But more importantly than those, it’s very good Linux background reading. I’ve been using Ubuntu on a casual basis for several years, and the Raspberry Pi daily for nearly 2 years. Through these, I’ve learnt quite a bit about Linux. But it’s nice to feed that with something a little broader. Linux Voice provides lots of wider background information about things you wouldn’t necessarily dabble in or find out about in the world of Pi.

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wayland

For example, there’s a nice article explaining what Wayland is and how it’s going to fit into Linux. It looks as if it will eventually replace X11, which is the windowing system on most current Linux systems. That’s something I know the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been working on – in fact, it’s mentioned. But it’s also nice to get the bigger picture about how it fits into the Linux ecosystem as a whole, and not just how it relates to the Piosphere.

There are also articles about things I know nothing about. In some respects, its a bit of a stretch for me. But that can only be a good thing. If you only read about what you can already do, you’re never going to grow.

Nearly Finished

I’m currently on page 77 of 114 and I have to say it’s a really good magazine. It’s well put together, it looks good, it reads well. That’s no surprise, judging by the pedigree of the people behind Linux Voice. They’re all seasoned Linux magazine professionals.

The Acid Test

Obviously it’s still early days, but the acid test will be whether or not I decide to renew my subscription in a year’s time. At the moment, that’s looking quite likely.

Have a look for yourself over at http://www.linuxvoice.com/

Post-Jamboree Update

I met the whole Linux Voice team on Thursday, which was their official launch day, at the Raspberry Jamboree and tweeted this photo of them from a Raspberry Pi.

The guys from @linuxvoice #RJamboree 2014/02/27 15:31:14 pic.twitter.com/SgB6QvTl2U

— RasP.iO (@RasPiO1) February 27, 2014