Free Software Magazine

I was delighted to read the first issue of Free Software Magazine - Courtesy Digit Magazine April DVD. The editorial says:

"Free software’s popularity is growing daily.
Even non-geeks are discovering that most of the web sites that they visit run on free
software (Apache); there is a valid alternative to Internet Explorer (Firefox); and their internet provider’s network is secured by free software (Nexus, free firewall, etc). And yet, until today there hasn’t been a single magazine dedicated entirely to free software.

Now, this project (publishing a magazine) is not risk-free. In the publishing industry you need numbers to make everything work. The more you print, the less you pay. The more readers you have, the more likely you are to get paying advertisers and so it goes on. At the moment, nobody really knows what these numbers will be for a magazine on free software, simply because there’s never been one.

If you believe in this project, please let the whole world know about it, use all those means that made great free software projects successful: talk about Free Software Magazine in your blog, user group mailing lists, social networks, professional web sites, IRC, etc. This way, you will help the magazine gain momentum and obtain the exposure it – and free software – deserve."

The first article, about File Format Wars was a good read. The author argues that [proprietary] file formats have been used to avoid free market competition, making it harder to customers to switch to newer
and better products. Read this story for example:

"When it comes to engineering, many projects for buildings, mechanical parts, furniture and bridges are stored in the DWG file format of AutoCAD, produced by AutoDesk. In 1998, competitors launched cheaper products based on an equivalent format. AutoDesk’s reaction was not limited to improving features, service and discounts. Their advertising campaign focused on reminding people that only AutoDesk’s products were 100% capable of keeping existing projects completely accessible."

The first issue of the magazine is available for download (pdf).