LXer Reader

Story: Who reads LXer? Why do I care?Total Replies: 26
Author Content
Cypress

Jul 14, 2006
7:12 AM EDT
I'm an LXer reader from Romania. Every morning when I wake up and boot my laptop to read the latest OSS/Linux news, I click that tiny LXer bookmark in Firefox. Fresh news every day, almost every hour - that's what I like about this site. I don't care about ads, about commercials - be they Microsoft-related or not - were they to appear on lxer.com. I'm here for the news and the oppinion of the editors. Keep up the good work!
grouch

Jul 14, 2006
7:39 AM EDT
Cypress:

Thanks for that!

You wouldn't believe how much worry goes into sifting through news stories: Are we posting too many, and therefore discouraging discussion? too few? Are we omitting some field of information some FOSS-using reader needs? Is the tiny bit of extra info in an otherwise duplicate story worth posting it? Does a particular story have enough relevance to FOSS? Is the amount of noise (ads, extra clicks, etc.) too much for the info contained? It goes on like that all the time.
maggrand

Jul 14, 2006
8:16 AM EDT
I read Lxer several times aday. Seriously its the best news for Linux/OSS on the net.

So keep up your good work.

intangible

Jul 14, 2006
8:20 AM EDT
I also hit LXer many times per day via RSS.

LXer has the best Linux/OSS content of any site I read daily; Digg may have more overall stories, but LXer has more quality OSS stories. (quality not quantity)

I appreciate all the hard work, thanks for providing such a useful site.
dominic

Jul 14, 2006
8:30 AM EDT
Ditto. I fire up Kontact when I get to work and the LXer feed is the one GNU/Linux+FOSS feed I never miss.

Keep up the good work!
Inhibit

Jul 14, 2006
8:34 AM EDT
Good stats are always vital, it's the best way to figure out what your readers are interested in.

Most of the people going to sites never comment, so a good indication of what they'd like to see more of is where they're going on the site.

LXer's become a great news feed over the years. Keep up the good work!
Cypress

Jul 14, 2006
8:41 AM EDT
@grouch: I have the same worries as you, since I'm doing a similar job every morning. I'm an executive editor at a Romanian IT&C magazine and one of my responsabilities is to post news on our Linux site (so I know how it feels to read 20 news in one hour and only post 2). I translate several news I read on LXer (and other news sites) and post them on myl.ro. Don't worry - the readers will never say "too much news today". The more news you post, the more they are discussed. I prefer to visit the site and not use a RSS reader. I can't get used to them :)
tuxchick2

Jul 14, 2006
8:54 AM EDT
I heart LXer for the volume of stories, the original features, and I trust it to not pimp for advertisers. The site design is nice and clean. Posts are instant, rather than sitting in some moderator limbo, which makes for much better discussions. The editorial team is not burdened with "journalist values" like feigning impartiality, and believing that a complete lack of knowledge in a subject equates to fair reporting.

Nice work.
simfox

Jul 14, 2006
9:01 AM EDT
Just to let you folks at LXer know -- I also count your site among the top 5 FOSS sites on the net. When I'm in Africa where web access is more difficult I visit 3-4 times a week. When back home in the US I touch base at least twice a day. Knowing what is happening in this fast-changing field is crucial to my business, and is fascinating as well. Thanks for the many hours you must spend every day making this service a reality for us. --Simfox
NoDough

Jul 14, 2006
9:06 AM EDT
In the past few months, I've trimmed my list of regularly visited sites down to about 10. LXer is not just in the top 10 or top 5, but it is my number 1. I visit it more frequently than any other site.

Originally it was the news content that drew me here, but it is the discussion and community that keep me here.

I live just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
dek

Jul 14, 2006
9:17 AM EDT
NoDough: Originally it was the news content that drew me here, but it is the discussion and community that keep me here.

Ditto that sentiment!! I, too, really enjoy the sense of community that open discussion creates. Care must be taken and all that but, for the most part, it is just plain fun to read the jibes, back and forths and attempts at humor! This is how you build comraderie and community.

Keep it up gang!

I use the RSS feeds to get an overview and then I visit the site for new forum content. Usually there's something worth while reading in there.

Don K.
tuxchick2

Jul 14, 2006
9:27 AM EDT
"....attempts at humor!"

Which, on rare occasions, succeed.

herzeleid

Jul 14, 2006
9:37 AM EDT
I can heartily agree with what grouch said here - my main sites used to be slashdot and linuxtoday.com - well, I got tired of the inane goatsex, natalie portman/grits, and "first post biatch" drivel on slashdot, and now only skim slashdot occasionally. And I couldn't stand the stench of the microsoft fud on linuxtoday.com, so I stopped visiting the site entirely - my blood pressure has been lower as a result, and the ulcers have cleared up.

When I discovered LXer a few months ago, it was like running into an old friend - it's good to see there are still some who haven't sold their integrity for a few extra bucks from a crappy monopolist!
adodson

Jul 14, 2006
9:38 AM EDT
LXer is in my top 3 with Slashdot and Digg (Tech category). The quality is better on LXer, and the quantity is higher on Digg. I don't know where to put Slashdot. I've been reading it much longer, but between LXer and Digg, I almost don't need Slashdot.

Please keep up the good work.
grouch

Jul 14, 2006
9:40 AM EDT
Cypress:

I guess you do indeed know the worries I talked about! They're pretty new to me.

tuxchick2:

You're still sore about that 'top', 'less', and 'nice' joke aren't you? Or is it the "goalie host" groaner?
ExWindowsUser

Jul 14, 2006
9:56 AM EDT
LXer Linux News is the front & center panel of my Google home page that I keep tabs on all day long. I do not work in the IT industry at all, but FOSS is near and dear to my heart, and as tuxchick2 stated earlier the design is nice and clean. I like being able to be only one click away from the full news story that I find interesting. I visit daily and read more news now than I ever have - and it is all relevant to me.

Keep up the good work LXer staff - this reader appreciates you!

Koriel

Jul 14, 2006
10:52 AM EDT
I've been an Lxer reader since Dave appeared on the Linux Show (R.I.P.), although i don't post as much since im busy and kinda depressed after my move to the USA from Scotland, why am i depressed you might be asking yourself. Well im depressed because of the amount of ignorance im coming across over here regarding the likes of MS, ODF and their various shenanigans some folk don't even realise these guys are convicted monopolists the people here just don't know whats going on, im in Vermont btw.

Ignorance of which i found very little back in Scotland and Europe as a whole, as i used to travel alot, i'm sure i'll get over it, i tried enlightening folks but they plainly just don't care its like i hit a conservative wall in a very fast car so i've more or less decided to not bother and bleed folks dry by repairing their virus ridden PC's at least MS are keeping me in a job.

Signed Depressed and possibly a little homesick.
dinotrac

Jul 14, 2006
11:15 AM EDT
Hey grouch --

"goalie host" is great stuff.

Some people just don't know fine art when they sneeze it.
dcparris

Jul 14, 2006
1:58 PM EDT
Koriel: >Signed Depressed and possibly a little homesick.

I know more about Ayre & Inverness than I do about Vermont. I miss Ayre - and I'm not from there. Hopefully you'll get settled into Vermont soon. Welcome Stateside! :-)

Don
Scott_Ruecker

Jul 14, 2006
2:55 PM EDT
Not that long ago...ok maybe a little longer than that, but still!

I was new to "this Linux thing" as I called it and was using my 'uber'-surfing skills to find out more about it. I happened to come across some site called LXer.com.

I thought "Cool, lots of news about Linux and stuff, direct links instead of re-directs, comment threads worth reading and participating in and no M$ ads, looks like somebody got it right."

It almost instantly became the one place I went to "get the news" on Linux and along the way I was asked to become a member of the Team.

Look at what it did to me, JUST LOOK!! AAHHHHH!! (your all supposed to run away in fear for your lives)

;-)

Koriel: Your not alone in your depression my good man, your not alone. If you ever need someone to drink some good Scotch with look me up. We can get 'pissed' and crawl home. :-)
tuxchick2

Jul 14, 2006
3:00 PM EDT
Why grouch, I don't hold a grudge.

For very long.
dcparris

Jul 14, 2006
3:25 PM EDT
This is gonna sound bad, but it was all Tom's fault. I didn't really read LXer much. I was just looking for an outlet to post a press release. I sent in a question about something I submitted. Next thing I know, I'm being recruited as an editor. I'm thinking, "me? really?", but it seemed like a fun thing to do. And it has been! It may yet turn out to be the best move I ever made.
grouch

Jul 14, 2006
7:43 PM EDT
dcparris:

Ditto. Tom goaded me into going a bit further than just spouting off in the comments, then you came along with those thinly veiled threats about knowing where I live and where I hide my mummified rat collection.

BTW, the response by readers got to me. sbergman27's thread was the catalyst for writing the editorial (it was actually going to be a reply in that thread, right at the point where I was nudging Steve to post an article). Ever since that time, I've been wondering if the editorial should even be posted, and if it was, would anyone read it. It's mostly about LXer instead of Linux, GNU or FOSS, after all. So, for 2 days and nights I've been biting my fingernails, figuratively. That disclaimer was put in just in case the thing really offended readers, to hopefully limit the fallout. I certainly didn't want my screw-up to be blamed on everyone else who works on LXer, especially since they have so many obligations demanding their time. They don't need extra duty imposed on them to clean up my messes. When Cypress posted that first comment, didn't roast me personally, and did complement LXer and the merry band of editors, it was tremendously relieving. The responses since then actually choked me up. (dinotrac's next groaner will fix that).

I've seen what kind of sacrifices, especially of spare time, that Don, Scott, and others have made to keep things going around here, so I think it's safe for me to claim to speak for the whole team(.php), now, to say, 'Thanks for the feedback!'
Inhibit

Jul 14, 2006
8:10 PM EDT
Yea. Editorializing's like that, at least if you're doing it right :).
Koriel

Jul 16, 2006
9:32 AM EDT
>I know more about Ayre & Inverness than I do about Vermont. I miss Ayre - and I'm not from there. Hopefully >you'll get settled into Vermont soon. Welcome Stateside! :-)

thanks for the welcome dcparris and i am originally from Inverness, never been to Ayre but i hear its nice :)

Cheers
dcparris

Jul 16, 2006
3:01 PM EDT
> thanks for the welcome dcparris and i am originally from Inverness, never been to Ayre but i hear its nice :)

I could happily retire to either town. Yeah, I did the Loch Ness tour. Even got to pilot the boat for a minute. Nessie's really cute for a lake monster, btw.
hkwint

Jul 16, 2006
4:12 PM EDT
Quoting:to speak for the whole team(.php), now, to say, 'Thanks for the feedback!'


Accordance from your editor in Zundert, the Netherlands. My holiday just started, so there will be new shiny spare time for LXer!

BTW I hit LXer when typing 'linuxnews.com'.

Cypress: You could also translate the other way around. If there's anything interesting going on in Romania, translate it to English, and post it at LXer. We would be very happy to hear how FOSS is doing in Romania!

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