Some LWN notes

Posted Jan 8, 2004 5:10 UTC (Thu) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link]

I was behind that note asking for an LWN financial status update. I figured
the end of one year and beginning of the next might be a good time for such
an article, and besides, my subscription is expiring, so altho whether I'd renew
wasn't really in question, what's happening to the organization I'm supporting
with it IS a valid question.

As I stated in the private email and am now stating in public, while I haven't
always had time over the last year to personally follow LWN as closely as I'd
like (and had missed the great subscription expiration, so am glad others
demonstrated their support by resubscribing, as I am), I believe even if I were
to NEVER stop by, I'd continue to get my money's worth, because LWN
continues to provide value to a community I value, and therefore to me,
whether I directly benefit from it or not, because the community continues
to. I strongly believe in FLOSS, in Linux and its community, and in LWN
for the news service it provides within that community. Thus, I AM
resubscribing.

Thanks, LWN, for the services you DO provide, not only to me, but to the
community in general. It's well worth my few dollars a month!

Duncan

Posted Jan 8, 2004 11:15 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

When I signed up last year, I was in gainful employment. This year I am a student living off occassional Free Software contract work, so the decision required a bit more thinking.

The reason I resubscribed was the great recent stories that included short interviews with Eben Moglen, Pamela Jones, Bradely Kuhn, and other figures that are not present on other sites. This is journalism worth paying for. If I wanted "opinion pieces", I would read peoples comments. (I do read comments, but I wouldn't pay for it :)

Good luck with 2004

Posted Jan 8, 2004 14:34 UTC (Thu) by dyork (subscriber, #2819) [Link]

Jon (and team),

Thanks for the update and I wish you all the best in determining how to keep the funding going. You all provide an invaluable service to the Linux community by providing the *context* for the news of the day. Thanks for all your hard work and keeping the news flowing.

Happy New Year!
Dan

Posted Jan 8, 2004 18:10 UTC (Thu) by markc (guest, #4419) [Link]

Perhaps a silly suggestion but it might be worth a few minutes typing. It's not that easy to support FLOSS financially as there are only a few channels to donate cash to some individuals and organisations. It's almost the opposite situation to traditional software piracy, we use software for free and, in general, find it difficult to channel funds where it counts. If LWN managed a FLOSS software fund on a 50/50 basis with total accountability... I mean ALL funds donated via this system can be publically tracked... and the donors could be acknowledged (if they chose to be) then I could imagine I would be willing to donate from $10 up to $100 a month (certainly per year) towards a fund that LWN kept 50% of, got my name/business acknowledged on the back page of LWN, and I could somehow partake of a "vote" as to where all or some part of the other 50% pool of funds would go to... either individual or project.

Some reasons why... as stated, it's not obviously easy to donate anything at all to anywhere let alone somewhere that I feel comfortable. I know, there are FSF/EFFs but they tend to be a bit political and just a black hole to throw a donation at... I can't see where the money is going, get no public acknowledgement and no control over where the funds ultimately go. I trust LWN, I already give it money every month, increasing that level of commitment is a lot easier than seeking out and feeling comfortable putting it somewhere else. So I think if these basic guidelines could be adhered to then there might be a chance it could work, if only some "authority" with credibility would provide the opportunity...

• complete and open accountability of the funds, no question
• definitive acknowledgement of a donation (if desired)
• real or perceived control over where the funds go

I have zero problem with LWN keeping 50% for their own usage but would suggest it most honourable if they disclosed where those funds went and I would be especially respectful if their 50% of the funds went mostly to pay for more articles and documentation... ie; to help get the kernel driver articles onto the dead tree stuff so they could make even more money selling them... to help make LWN so compelling they get more subscribers etc.

I mean, wouldn't it be just terrible if it became trendy for larger companies to out-donate each other in a donation frenzy war of one upmanship. It could happen if there was a credible and neutral venue for these kind of proceedings.

Bah... too crazy... pass me the remote so I can change channels...

--markc

Posted Jan 9, 2004 17:52 UTC (Fri) by dion (subscriber, #2764) [Link]

It's great to see that the subscription levels are not crap like the rest of the (IT) economy.

Luckily things are starting to look up, I've been subcribing at the "starving hacker" level for two years, but now that I'm an employee again I'm going to switch that up a notch, the next time it expires:)

Posted Jan 12, 2004 22:19 UTC (Mon) by gwittenburg (subscriber, #5080) [Link]

A way to attract more people to your product might be to actually improve the product
itself. And while I'm more than happy with the articles, background, and other content
that LWN carries (great work, really!), I'm still thinking now and then about the "LWN as
PDF via email" option that was mentioned when LWN first when into subscription mode.
Maybe there are some synergies between this and the coorporate subscriptions that
you're looking for... So what are the current plans on that?