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Sys Admin Magazine Ceases Publication
keithl writes "I received a postcard in the mail today informing me that Sys Admin magazine has ceased publication. 'We regret to inform you that the magazine has ceased publication effective with the August 2007 issue.' Only paid subscribers with remaining issues receive this mailing. If you do nothing, they will send you a copy of the Sys Admin archive CD (1992 – August 2007), or you can return the card for a full refund of all unsent issues. The deadline to return the postcard for a refund is October 1, 2007." The magazine's Web site has no word that I could find on the closing down of print publication.
http://www.magazinedeathpool.com/
But never bought it because all the issues I saw were like double issues in a plastic sleeve, so I could never check out the content. Pity, it looked interesting but not enough by just reading the cover.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
sysadmin magazine was a good idea in theory, and I have read a few of their (print) issues, but it always seemed like they were shooting for too much of a novice crowd. They did highlight some interesting things, but the articles were rarely very in-depth, and the code snippets were usually pretty basic. I had contemplated getting a subscription a few times, but it seemed like 90% of any issue would be basic stuff I already knew or could easily figure out on my own. A junior sysadmin may be able to learn a lot from the magazine, but probably not anyone at a higher level than that.
For a magazine that was supposed to be geared toward professional sysadmins, I would have liked to see some more hard-core technical content, including some actual code magic rather than "magic" that anyone with experience in the language would find very basic. I would have rather seen more kernel tuning and less "sorting your calendar in PHP" crap.
Maybe they were hitting at exactly the wrong spot: their focus was too narrow to be an overview type of magazine, but it was too broad to really get into the nitty gritty of any one thing.
I've often wondered why magazines aren't formated for the different levels of expertise. Why not have the first 1/3'rd of the magazine devoted to beginner articles. The 2nd devoted to intermediate articles and the last 3rd devoted to expert material?
That way you'd appeal to every range in your audience AND your magazines would be worth keeping.
Death of Sys Admin Magazine was quietly announced on june 13. by the parent company, CMP, in a subsentence.
http://cmp.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1722
A few days later, I got a polite letter saying they wouldn't be needing the article I'd proposed for publication.
i used to subscribe to this magazine. reading it was by far my favorite way to enhance my IT knowledge--something i need to do daily in this industry.
i stopped my subscription when i decided to stop paying for dead tree media--an ecological decision.
i contacted the Sys Admin publisher and told them many many times that i was willing to pay *twice* their subscription price if they would make the magazine available digitally because i did't want a dead tree version. they told me in many different ways, no can do.
i'm not kidding when i say i contacted them many times and "climbed the ladder" speaking to various higher-ups. everytime i was met with what i would describe as a lack of vision. i was given every reason in the book as to why offering Sys Admin digitally via the internet would kill their revenue stream. unbelievable to me in the face of me telling them that i was willing to them pay double their subscription price (heck, i probably would have paid more).
imho, Sys Admin had a chance to become a (possibly THE) premier _profitable_ digital resource for IT folks. what got in their way was their lack of vision--their inability to re-imagine themselves.
R.I.P. Sys Admin
P.S.
if there are any flickering embers in the Sys Admin ashes, if someone takes up the reins and makes the rag digital i'm still willing to pony up good money for a subscription (and i suspect many others would be too).
Neglected, pure and simple.
a ting_Systems/Unix/
... insight.
They had the platform, the had the forum, they had an audience.
When it came to subscribe once again, I had to think - has this magazine answered, delivered, proposed anything of consequence? [not counting Amy's column]
It was supposed to be about UNIX (?), not just Solaris.
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Oper
System Administrators want answers about the OS. [and the sum thereof]
I wanted Sys Admin to give me configuration tips, tuning tricks
I WANT magazines, not PDFs, I want something to refer back to, in these last few years I just skimmed it, read Amy Rich, then it went straight to the shelf.
It's too bad.
I liked the idea of the magazine, but they suffered neglect, from staff and ultimately reader interest alike.
~hylas
The fact that the magazine called for papers from its readers, rather than simply pay a small group of contributors for whatever they could scrawl out in a month seemed to deliver better quality articles - I suspect this is something similar to more academic journals. I always had a good deal more faith in their articles than in any other periodicals I read.
The idea of a web based version on the surface seems like a good idea. However, based on other postings on this thread this does not look like something that will take off with CMP.
Doesn't this leave an opportunity for someone else to step in ?
If you think about this, if CMP are discontinuing the magazine, then the only remaining assets of value are their website, subscriber list, stock of backissue CD's, and possibly any articles in their library that have not yet been published. Maybe there is an opportunity for someone ( eg OSDN - hint hint) to talk to CMP and see if they can buy the domain. That, coupled with the potential use of their subscriber email list, could be an opportunity to develop a web based publication of similar quality (you know - one with editors that dupe check, spell check, fact check, etc) to fill the void.
Sell advertising in the publications, pay people to review the content before it's release to subscribers, and do it while people remember that the magazine actually existed.
Irrespective of the delivery method, I believe that there is still a need for such a publication. If it was priced in the same market as some of the other electronic magazines (eg Linux Journal) it may work.
I'd buy it.