[CREATE] LG magazine #1::∞

[ricardo lafuente]

Hai,

No one here, i guess, did or would defend that anyone in the community 
would want to publish LibreGraphics-related materials shouldn't do so. 
Given that so few community-generated printed materials were made so 
far, having a serious effort to do something is naturally most welcome.

I think many questions are getting tangled up in this discussion, so i'd 
like to focus on one: is there any particular reason why a 
LibreGraphics-related publication would have to be related to the "Libre 
Graphics Magazine" project, be it as a 'special issue' or whatever else?

The reason i'm asking this is because my (personal) perception of what a 
magazine is implies a sense of persistence and continuity. For instance, 
i'd say that LGMag#0 was closer to a brochure (i hate the term, but hope 
you see the point) than a magazine; this was because of big time 
constraints and we couldn't afford to set a master plan that would set 
an identity and standard for the kind of longer-term project that a 
magazine is. The materials published by the Libre Graphics community so 
far -- LGMag#0 included -- have mostly been one-off pieces created by 
different teams with distinct approaches and editorial decisions in 
mind, even if sharing the same goals.

Nevertheless, LGMag#0 was a good kickstarter for a bigger "Libre 
Graphics Magazine" project which can be closer to this notion of 
'magazine', and which can aim higher. Ginger, Ana and i are already 
discussing among ourselves how this could work -- and we'll post here 
for your consideration once we have a structured plan that we believe in.

In the same vein, my thoughts on the semi-decentralised approach that 
was proposed for LGMag:

I think that the reason for the dearth of LG-related printed material so 
far is not lack of authorisation/permission, but of initiative. Letting 
people know that they can create their own LGMagazine is not what's 
going to make someone rush to publish all of a sudden. The antidote here 
is, perhaps, encouragement: we can and should encourage local 
initiatives to create and publish their own Libre Graphics materials, be 
they magazines, brochures, posters, and what have you, providing where 
possible the means to help them do so.

That said, i see no reason (so far) why other such endeavours shouldn't 
be 'standalone' (being nonetheless endorsed by the Libre Graphics 
community) and why they should be instead attached to the LGMag project. 
I'd venture to say that having many parallel efforts would simply 
reflect and enrich the diversity that our community is known for -- and 
the reason why many of us love it.

On 08/18/2010 01:55 PM, Jon Nordby wrote:
> Ale, if you want to create a magazine issue at or for froscamp, I'd
> say go for it!
>
> While I completely agree that one should aim for periodic releases,
> the important thing is to actually create issues of the magazine and
> get them out to people!
>
> And please, do keep your ideas and thoughts coming.
>