syslog

As I mentioned earlier this year, 2002 marks the 10th anniversary for Sys Admin magazine. Here's a quick overview of the magazine's history. During its 10-year evolution, Sys Admin has addressed the ever-changing systems administration demands of heterogeneous environments. For the premiere issue, founding editor Robert Ward wrote, "That is our mission: to provide you with useful information and tools -- and to create an off-line forum where systems administrators can archive and share their expertise and concerns. We also hope you find Sys Admin substantially different from other UNIX magazines. We strive to be more technical, more practical, and more focused. Instead of exhorting you to periodically remove unneeded core files, we've included a tool that helps you determine whether a core file is important or not. Instead of telling you that overnight scheduling can improve system response, we've provided the full source code for a tool with which to implement overnight scheduling."

During that first year of publication, Sys Admin focused on growing its circulation from 3,000 to about 10,000 subscribers. Early on, the magazine attracted a group of UNIX loyalists who ardently opposed any attempts to tweak the focus or format.

In 1996, Sys Admin began publishing on a monthly basis, launched its Web presence, and produced the first of seven annual issues devoted to Linux administration. This early support and interest in the Linux operating system helped Sys Admin grow. Also at this time, Ralph Barker became senior editor of Sys Admin and reiterated the magazine's mission. In his first editorial, Barker wrote, "We plan to keep the treatment of these (technical) themes at the hands-on level, because that is the type of coverage you have indicated is the most relevant for you. We understand that it is our job to serve your UNIX system administration information needs in a highly relevant manner."

I became editor in 2000, and circulation and during that year, the Sys Admin team also assumed responsibility for the UNIX Review online presence, re-launching UnixReview.com as a UNIX-centric site presenting book and product reviews, certification updates, and columns dedicated to Linux tools, shell scripting, and regular expressions. In 2001, Sys Admin acquired The Perl Journal from Jon Orwant and now produces TPJ as a quarterly supplement to Sys Admin.

Circulation for the magazine has now grown to more than 33,000 paid subscribers, a 22 percent increase since June of 2000, and, thanks to you, Sys Admin celebrates its 10th birthday in a strong position, continuing its mission to provide practical, technical information for UNIX systems administrators.

Sincerely yours,

Amber Ankerholz
Editor in Chief