I recieved my copy of the August Issue of SysAdmin this week. The very first column of SysAdmin is always syslog, where the Editor in Chief -- currently Amber Ankerholz -- writes a short essay relevant to the current issue.
This latest issue's syslog has me saddened. It opens as follows:
This is the last issue of SysAdmin magazine that you will receive. The magazine is ceasing publication after this issue.
This is a really hard time for publishers and for print media in general. 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has repeatedly said that things are pretty tense, changing publishers and thus slightly changing the format and binding of the magazine itself. It's industry-wide, and smaller publications are victims of collateral damage, I'm afraid.
Unfortunately for those of us who read and enjoy SysAdmin, there really isn't anything else out there to take its place. Sure, there's a slough of Linux publications out there, but I personally don't use Linux all that often. On a daily basis, I use AIX, Solaris, OpenBSD, and Mac OS X. Also, with the market shifting Linux towards desktop focus, the world is a lot more interested in Ubuntu than it is in SLES, Red Hat Enterprise, or CentOS. Most Linux magazines are now focused on graphics, games, and productivity suites for Linux. That's definitely a far cry away from the content in my beloved departed SysAdmin.
There are other magazines focused on security in general. 2600 comes to mind, but it covers more than just security -- often focusing on mischief or malice beyond the realm of the digital world. Hakin9 is published out of Poland, and the English version of their magazine is written in translated, slightly broken English. It resembles e-zines of old in writing style, which is great for nostalgia but terrible for clearly conveying information. I could name a few others, but they're also sorely lacking in UNIXish-specific systems and applications administration content.
So, a moment of silence for SysAdmin. RIP, Buddy. You will be missed.
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