So I pick up Sys Admin magazine and find that The Perl Journal has resurfaced as a supplement.

I browse it, expecting to see some sort of editorial explaining what the hell is happening. All I find is a small paragraph explaining that the journal has 'been away for a bit'.

I go to TJP.com, get redirected to sysadminmag.com and find a press release link. Clicking it just reloads the page I'm on.

And just below it is a note saying what to do if you want to subscribe. Subscribe to a supplement? What the hell's going on? Are we going to get more than 32 pages in future editions (15 pages of which are adverts - oh, and don't forget the contents page :) ?

I thought SysAdmin mag getting TPJ was going to put the magazine back on track. Should I take my feelings of impending doom seriously, or what?

hmmmm

cLive ;-)

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: TPJ as a supplement to Sys Admin
by pjf (Curate) on Oct 08, 2001 at 10:12 UTC
    Note:I'm not affiliated with the past or present TPJ publishers and editors in any way, except that I've been paid with money and subscriptions to write a few articles. ;)

    Hey everyone,

    I've the author of a couple of articles (Finance::Quote and Finance::Quotelets) that have been published in The Perl Journal. Obvisouly I don't know everything, but I'll explain what I can.

    Earthweb (the previous TPJ publishers) didn't want to run with TPJ anymore, for reasons unknown, and handed the torch over to Sys Admin Magazine. Obviously there was much confusion in this process, as changing publishers is far from a straightforward task.

    TPJ is now a suppliment to SysAdmin Mag, or you could just as easily say that SysAdmin Mag is a suppliment to TPJ. Those people with a subscription to TPJ will also receive SysAdmin, and vice versa. The small "new issue" is probably because nobody knew how to submit articles during the change-over period. My second article was published because it had missed issue #20, and the draft was handed over with the rest of the rights to TPJ.

    The new editors (yes, there are new editors) appear to have their hearts in the right place, and I think that "impeding doom" is quite far from the mark. Companies don't usually pay for the rights to a magazine, put all the back-issues on-line for free, increase the amount they're paying authors, and invest the effort in producing a CD-ROM which will also contain all previous TPJ articles. To me, all that work indicates they think TPJ is going to be great.

    There was a period when the future of TPJ looked shakey, but with new owners that's no longer the case. I think if anything we're just seeing a few teething problems.

    Anyway, that's really all that I know. I hope that this helps to answer more questions than it raises. ;)

    Cheers,
    Paul

[reply]
      The new editors (yes, there are new editors) appear to have their hearts in the right place, and I think that "impeding doom" is quite far from the mark.
      These are also people that I've worked with for months for SysAdmin magazine, and they've usually treated my columns with a light hand, and understood when I stomped my feet wanting something put back.

      This is sharp contrast to the editors (working for the same empire) on WebTechniques, who seem to be very insistent on removing any personality I put into the column, and introducing their own frequent technical errors by deleting 1 sentence in 5 randomly.

      And at the extreme other pole, the editors of Linux Magazine are fellow hackers, who not only leave every joke (and rant) intact, but have been known to add a paragraph or two from time to time when they have further information. Now that's an editor.

      -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

[reply]
          and I think that "impeding doom" is quite far from the mark.

      Actually, "impeding doom" is probably the chief occupation of the producers of most magazines. (nice typo :-) )

        p
[reply]
      What is Jon Orwant's role in the new entity?

      -Blake

[reply]
        G'day blakem and fellow monks,

        According to a SysAdmin newsletter which can be found here (and other places), Jon Orwant will continue to be involved as a "Senior Contributing Editor". I'm not good at translating titles into roles, but I believe whichever way you look at it Jon is still involved.

        Cheers,
        Paul

[reply]
Re: TPJ as a supplement to Sys Admin
by Indomitus (Scribe) on Oct 08, 2001 at 08:27 UTC
    One thing that makes me think that SysAdmin will 'do right' by TPJ is that all the back issues of TPJ are now online. This wasn't the case before and according to Jon Orwant, wasn't going to be for financial reasons. I read somewhere that this issue of TPJ is the first under the SysAdmin banner and as such, is not what we should expect from the future of TPJ. Jon and company at TPJ probably have a lot more going on right now than usual so I think if you'll check out the next issue, it'll be back to it's usual excellence.

    That said, I'd really like to see an interview someplace with Jon Orwant when things calm down. I'd be interested to see just what he has planed now that he has bigger money behind TPJ.
[reply]
To which issue of SysAdmin is TPJ supplemented?
by Hanamaki (Chaplain) on Oct 09, 2001 at 19:49 UTC
    I am a long time subscriber of TPJ and last week I got the first time an issue of SysAdmin (Number 10, October 2001) in my postbox. Unfortunately an issue of The Perl Journal was not supplemented.

    I thought TPJ was going to be distributed with SysAdmin No. 10 but I am not sure. Could anyone confirm or correct me, before I inquire to the subscription department of SysAdmin.

    Thanks in advance,

    Hanamaki
    TPJ subscriber from Europe.
[reply]
      Sysadmin 10 (October 2001) should indeed be accompanied with the latest TPJ. Mine just arrived yesterday.

      Cheers,
      Paul

[reply]
        Because I got msg'ed by other european monks who have the same problem here some update:

        I have sent a mail to Shannon Weaver (Assistant Circulation Manager) and was told that they had problems with their re-mailing house and TPJ will be sent out within 10-14 days.

        Hanamaki
[reply]
      Yep,

      I bought it at a bookstore last week - now I'm worried I'm gonna get it again through my subscription (or maybe my subscription expired...).

      hmmm

      cLive ;-)

[reply]

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