FYI: Posted to the P(eterborough)LUG list.
The date this is available is 4th March.
Mark Rogers
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Peterboro] Free .PDF of Linux Format magazine Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:05:21 +0000 From: stuart lonnen stuart.lonnen@gmail.com
Hi all,
Just found out that the latest issue of Linux Format will be offered free for download from here http://www.tuxradar.com/content/linux-format-free-download-24-hours-only
As the URL says the offer will expire after 24 hours and it starts at midnight tonight.
I have a subscription so I don't have to download it, but I might just in case someone at the LUG wants it and misses it. I'll be able to offer it to anyone coming to the next LUG meeting.
Cheers Stuart L.
Hi,
Thanks for the heads-up, Mark. I might grab a copy just to see what the fuss is about. The question is: it it worth it? I've bought many Linux Format issues, I think starting from issue 2 or 3. I think their code:page ratio has been going down steadily (though I have liked their Arduino articles!).
Srdjan
2009/3/3 Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk:
FYI: Posted to the P(eterborough)LUG list.
The date this is available is 4th March.
Mark Rogers
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Peterboro] Free .PDF of Linux Format magazine Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:05:21 +0000 From: stuart lonnen stuart.lonnen@gmail.com
Hi all,
Just found out that the latest issue of Linux Format will be offered free for download from here http://www.tuxradar.com/content/linux-format-free-download-24-hours-only
As the URL says the offer will expire after 24 hours and it starts at midnight tonight.
I have a subscription so I don't have to download it, but I might just in case someone at the LUG wants it and misses it. I'll be able to offer it to anyone coming to the next LUG meeting.
My view is that in general the magazines have become less and less relevant as information (particularly distro specific stuff) is usually better and more up to date on line.
The cover disks used to be handy in the days of dialup but now the same applies as with the magazine content. I would be happier to purchase a media free copy (at a lower price) but at the current price the content of the magazine as it stands is not justified when the DVD usually ends up being discarded still sealed up.
Also the last few copies of LF I read (about a year ago now) had rather poor hardware reviews which did more to anger me than anything else.
That said I will be downloading the free PDF version just to see if anything has improved (as I suspect is their intent)
Are they mad? It's not 'a' PDF - it's a series of PDFs (including some files that only contain adverts) linked by an HTML page, all wrapped up in a 127MB zip downloaded over bittorrent.
I have now read through the contents page, and I've left it there.
Tim.
Tim Green wrote:
Are they mad? It's not 'a' PDF - it's a series of PDFs (including some files that only contain adverts) linked by an HTML page, all wrapped up in a 127MB zip downloaded over bittorrent.
Based on my experience of large PDF files that's probably no bad thing; a single 127MB PDF file would probably be unmanageable.
As for it including adverts: well the magazine does, so I would expect the PDF to too. It's still a few quid cheaper than the newstand, and I assume the advertising will help pay for the exercise anyway.
Are they mad? It's not 'a' PDF - it's a series of PDFs (including some files that only contain adverts) linked by an HTML page, all wrapped up in a 127MB zip downloaded over bittorrent.
Huge PDFs are not fun to play with, so I don't see this as a particularly heinous thing to do. Bear in mind as well, that this is free content - you get what you pay for!
IMHO, I've been a subscriber to LXF since before issue 1 (I recall there was a teaser issue) and it's still as interesting to read as it's always been. Sure, some months cover more subjects that I have no interest in, but there's always something in there worth scanning through - and the general quality of the articles has remained fairly high.
I've tried the other Linux mags on the market, but I found most of them somewhat less accessible which meant that I was only really interested in reading in-depth those articles where I already knew quite a bit about the topic. The rest were just too hard-going.
You pays yer money and you takes yer choice!
Peter.
2009/3/4 Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk:
Tim Green wrote:
Are they mad? It's not 'a' PDF - it's a series of PDFs (including some files that only contain adverts) linked by an HTML page, all wrapped up in a 127MB zip downloaded over bittorrent.
Based on my experience of large PDF files that's probably no bad thing; a single 127MB PDF file would probably be unmanageable.
As for it including adverts: well the magazine does, so I would expect the PDF to too. It's still a few quid cheaper than the newstand, and I assume the advertising will help pay for the exercise anyway.
I'm not objecting to the adverts - I'm just surprised they can be so easily avoided / deleted.
A single PDF would be easier to search and would allow the traditional reading pattern of starting at one end flipping through each page to the other end.
Tim.
On Wed, Mar 04, 2009 at 11:02:20AM +0000, Tim Green wrote:
A single PDF would be easier to search and would allow the traditional reading pattern of starting at one end flipping through each page to the other end.
Which is an awful way to read things on a computer in my opinion :)
Thanks Adam
Tim Green wrote:
2009/3/4 Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk:
Tim Green wrote:
Are they mad? It's not 'a' PDF - it's a series of PDFs (including some files that only contain adverts) linked by an HTML page, all wrapped up in a 127MB zip downloaded over bittorrent.
Based on my experience of large PDF files that's probably no bad thing; a single 127MB PDF file would probably be unmanageable.
As for it including adverts: well the magazine does, so I would expect the PDF to too. It's still a few quid cheaper than the newstand, and I assume the advertising will help pay for the exercise anyway.
I'm not objecting to the adverts - I'm just surprised they can be so easily avoided / deleted.
A single PDF would be easier to search and would allow the traditional reading pattern of starting at one end flipping through each page to the other end.
Tim.
I wish I'd known about this offer before I paid for the dead tree version on Monday!
For anyone interested, a bit of scripting with pdftotext suggests that the the full magazine is arranged in the order listed at the end of this email, though having created the list, it just occurred to me that I tend to dip in and out of this magazine in random order anyway!
To build the full PDF try using pdftk (http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/). Put the list below in file "order.txt" together with the extracted PDF's and run the following in the same directory:
$ pdftk $(order.txt) cat output LXF116.pdf
I found the resulting file quite usable on my machine.
Cheers,
Safe
LXF116.cover.pdf LXF116.dvd_wallet.pdf LXF116.subs.pdf LXF116.welcome.pdf LXF116.content.pdf LXF116.pca_ad.pdf LXF116.news.pdf LXF116.user.pdf LXF116.mail.pdf LXF116.rev_int.pdf LXF116.backpage.pdf LXF116.rev_popcorn.pdf LXF116.rev_double.pdf LXF116.rev_crunch.pdf LXF116.rev_cafe.pdf LXF116.rev_tribe.pdf LXF116.round.pdf LXF116.rev_books.pdf LXF116.dwatch.pdf LXF116.kde.pdf LXF116.feature2.pdf LXF116.dvd.pdf LXF116.lugspice.pdf LXF116.sysadmin.pdf LXF116.woe.pdf LXF116.dvdpgs.pdf LXF116.hot.pdf LXF116.discinfo.pdf LXF116.subs_ovr.pdf LXF116.tut_int.pdf LXF116.tut_begin.pdf LXF116.tut_acer.pdf LXF116.tut_gimp.pdf LXF116.tut_data.pdf LXF116.tut_networking.pdf LXF116.tut_adv.pdf LXF116.answr.pdf LXF116.b_iss.pdf LXF116.pcpad.pdf LXF116.n_month.pdf LXF116.dvd_body.pdf
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Adam Bower -
Mark Rogers -
Safe Hammad -
samwise -
Srdjan Todorovic -
Tim Green -
Wayne Stallwood