TUX Magazine now going to start charging

[carlosponti]

i subscribe to this magazine and i got this in my email today;

Dear TUX Subscriber,

NOTE: This is a corrected copy of a previously sent e-mail.

This week you'll notice a change in TUX. It will move from being a
free digital magazine to a paid one. Your current complimentary
subscription will be extended for 12 issues (expiring after the
July 2007 issue). That being said, this is just a note to let you
know what's happening -- there's nothing at all you need to do
today. Your free subscription will continue to be delivered to you
as you had originally requested.

When your subscription does expire, we will send you a notice
offerring you an opportunity to renew at our paid rate of just
$9.95/12 issues. In addition, since you've been a long-time (and
apprecited!) loyal subscriber, we'll make certain to offer you a
very special gift if you do decide to renew at that time. Again
though, there's nothing for you to do today. Your free subscription
to TUX will continue through July 2007.

We started TUX in 2004 because we felt strongly it was a needed
publication within the Linux community (many of our Linux Journal
readers would write in asking for exactly this, and truthfully, many
of our own staff members wanted to learn more about their Linux
desktops also). We invested revenues from our other publication,
Linux Journal, to make it possible. We've seen it as a labor of
love. Today, however, 15 issues later, we need to turn TUX into a
self-supporting publication and that's why we are asking for our
readers' help.

We promise to put more heart and effort into TUX with this
conversion. In the coming months, you can expect several new topics
and article series introduced by TUX Editor Kevin Shockey.

Please let us know how we can make TUX better for you. We strongly
encourage your feedback and suggestions; please send to
info@tuxmagazine.com.

From all of us at TUX Magazine, we sincerely thank you.

[fingal]

That magazine is new to me, but I can sympathise with the editorial team. I did a publishing degree (at least in part) and we had it drummed into us that the best way to lose a lot of money fast would be to start a magazine. It's a miracle they could ever offer it free in the first place given the work involved!

Magazines have very very tight profit margins, and work in markets so volatile that all they have to do is sneeze to go out of business. This might explain why so many magazines have such strange prices: for example £5.36p ... If you see that then you know that somewhere there's a large spreadsheet with a very scared person working out exactly how much to charge to avoid going bust.

Are you thinking of continuing your subscription then?

[carlosponti]

dont really know. this was a digital magazine that comes in pdf format in my email and right now i just cant afford paying for it. but in 12 months i might be in a better position.

[bigtomrodney]

At the risk of sounding cynical, I'd say that's the end for Tux magazine. I can't see people subscribing to a magazine when the same content is available at a bag of other sites. Plus I think a lot of people view web magazines as throwaway. You read it or you don't. Just opinion though.

When I think web magazine, I think Distrowatch or Slashdot.

[celticgeek]

I will probably subscribe. I have really enjoyed reading TUX magazine. I have been a subscriber since it first came out, and I still have all of the editions on my hard drive.