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I used to run a little #Linux magazine over at Medium. Surprisingly, it has had more than 200,000 views since we *stopped* producing content for it in 2021.

https://medium.com/linuxforeveryone

As I explore dipping my toes back into Linux and FOSS coverage, I'm curious what you all think about Medium in 2024?

(I haven't touched it in 3 years, and publishing platforms like this haven't been on my radar, so don't hold back with your opinions -- I'm genuinely curious).


Linux For Everyone – Medium

Exploring and discovering the thrilling world of desktop Linux, open source software, and the community creating it. Writers wanted!
Linux For Everyone
#Linux
Mauricio Castro
Mauricio Castro  
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You should absolutely do it! How about a Ghost instance? It meets the criteria, can be self hosted and has Fediverso integration. The only down for me is that the only mail service supported is Mailgun.
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@mauriciobc I think something like Ghost could be the way forward. There's a lot of anxiety associated with publishing your words on a company's platform and hoping it doesn't disappear into thin air.
@Mauricio Castro
Daniel Melzak
Daniel Melzak  
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@mauriciobc

I have setup Ghost in a container on linode before and it ran my blog for a long while. I didn't fully utilize it and I like the idea of simple backup/restore, so I switch to deploying my site as a self-built container image of a hugo static site. That way when I to update my blog, I can just make a Markdown file, put it in my git repo and build/deploy the new container image.

Fediverse integration does sound nice.

@Mauricio Castro
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@TeamLinux01 @mauriciobc From a technical point of view, that sounds exciting! But I only have experience with Wordpress backends, AND practically no experience with markup. Would setting it up and maintaining it be frustrating for someone who's a LITTLE tech savvy, but not a wizard?
@Mauricio Castro @Daniel Melzak
Mauricio Castro
Mauricio Castro  
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@TeamLinux01 It depends on the level of customization you want/need. But it has good documentation and a helpful community.
@Daniel Melzak
Daniel Melzak
Daniel Melzak  
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If you're talking about building a hugo site, I would say it isn't too difficult if you learn in steps.

Here is my github repo https://github.com/TeamLinux01/daniel.melzaks.com

https://gohugo.io/getting-started/quick-start/ to learn a little how hugo works. Hugo has a way of spinning up the site on the local machine (it dynamically recompiles).

The important bits are the `themes` folder, which points to another git repo that is the actual theme. There are many themes to choose from at https://themes.gohugo.io/


GitHub - TeamLinux01/daniel.melzaks.com

Contribute to TeamLinux01/daniel.melzaks.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHub
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@TeamLinux01 @mauriciobc Huh. I took a look through the Quick start guide (thank you for linking it), and... it seems fairly straightforward to install it, choose a basic theme, and start adding content.

Fascinating.

@Mauricio Castro @Daniel Melzak
Jonathan Isom
Jonathan Isom  
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Front page looks nice and clean. The articles look like they are on a different site though. Doesn’t look consistent. Nice overall though.
Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾
Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾  
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Not a fan of Medium, has big time Silicon Valley vibes and the content is uneven - some posts are very good, some shite. Doesn’t seem to fit the fediverse and I keep expecting it to go belly up so it’s kind of amazing to hear you have so many readers.
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@jeremiah_ No idea how they're finding the content, either. But I agree with you. I recall Medium reinventing itself several times, and that's a big red flag.

Also, I'd prefer to write for people, not for algorithms...

@Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾
Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾
Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾  
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Have you considered Ghost? They’re working on connecting to the fediverse. They may charge however which is kinda suboptimal. The good news is that there’s interest in your magazine. Hope you find a way to make it happen as it looks to be quality content for an important audience.
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@jeremiah_ You're the third person to suggest Ghost in this thread! I'm definitely going to look into it. I don't mind a fair price, as long as it's a quality platform. (And hopefully it's straightforward to set up)
@Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾
Danny Colin
Danny Colin  
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@jeremiah_ If you don't care about paid subscriptions, you can also use a static site generator and host on GitHub for free. Videos can be on Peertube/Youtube.
@Jeremiah C. Foster 🇺🇸🇸🇪👾
Koen de Jonge - SynQ
Koen de Jonge - SynQ  
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I recommend #writefreely @matt it’s much cleaner than medium.
#WriteFreely @Matt
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@koen @matt Clean is GOOD! But the issue with a platform focused on a minimalist approach is that my Linux content has always been pretty media-heavy (audio, video, and especially screenshots).
@Matt @Koen de Jonge - SynQ
Jelv 🎴
Jelv 🎴  
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@koen @matt there is also a small and upcomming blogging platform called #WordPress that as is connected with the fediverse via https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/

ActivityPub

The ActivityPub protocol is a decentralized social networking protocol based upon the ActivityStreams 2.0 data format.
WordPress.org
#Wordpress @Matt @Koen de Jonge - SynQ
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@jelv @koen @matt Hey I've heard of that! (I actually propped up my first WP site in 2005, and I'm still using it to manage the Thunderbird blog.) I'm starting to love the idea of something like Hugo, though...
@Matt @Koen de Jonge - SynQ @Jelv 🎴
silverwizard
silverwizard  
@Jason Evangelho I consider a publication on Medium the way that I consider a publication with AI art at the top
@Jason Evangelho
unicornCoder ☑️ :gnome: :bash:
unicornCoder ☑️ :gnome: :bash:  
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Medium is not a place i would typically go for regular Linux content. I look for RSS feeds.

curious if you can put your content you posted on Medium on GitHub pages static site or Netlify?

Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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I can absolutely put that existing content anywhere, alongside the new content. Which won't be Medium.

(Also, I'm a huge RSS fan -- after all, I was hand-coding my RSS feed as one of the world's first 30 podcasters. We kinda have history!)

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
unicornCoder ☑️ :gnome: :bash:
unicornCoder ☑️ :gnome: :bash:  
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whenever i did a blog i used Quarto for most of the pandoc use and then posted there. Sure your needs will need a large server like Netlify or something.

your post has me thinking I should get my hand in the Linux content creation as well

Joe Ressington
Joe Ressington  
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why over-complicate things? You have huge reach here (and on other socials still I assume?)

Tons of people here followed your recent thread about the ROG Ally. If it's just a creative itch you're looking to scratch, what better place than truly open and federated social media?

Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@JoeRess Sometimes I hate how you're always right.
@Joe Ressington
Joe Ressington
Joe Ressington  
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it's a curse sometimes, man. Believe me.
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
Miroslav Kravec
Miroslav Kravec  
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I don't like Medium's paywall...

I don't like ads on sites either. They spoil the content,...

Serves don't run for free. Authors need to have their time paid (to feed themselves, and family)...

It's probably one or the other.

Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@kravemir I've grown to dislike paywalls myself. If I had to make a few dollars to keep a server running, I think I'd much rather ask my readers directly.
@Miroslav Kravec
Miroslav Kravec
Miroslav Kravec  
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I would love, if I could award authors a humble donation post reading.

Let's say, one button click (and confirm) and 0.10€ goes to the author (minus operational costs). With 10 000 reads, where article brought value to reader, author could earn 1000€ per article if everybody donated.

Or, custom value, i.e. 1€ for article that truly helped me in something.

Or, pick maybe humorous 0.01€ just to reward the effort, signal I like something about it, but not good enough yet.

necrophcodr
necrophcodr  
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while I personally do not mind reading Medium articles, what puts me off is being unable to do just that. when I'm looking for news, or reading them, I do not wish to engage with anything else. Not even a login form. Anything that puts me off even slightly, a popup, anything that covers what I'm trying to read? I'm not reading it anymore. That may sound weak, low attention span, or privileged, and it IS all of those. The info can be found elsewhere, so make it worth it.
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@necrophcodr It sounds rational to me. I appreciate your perspective.
@necrophcodr
frankstrater
frankstrater  
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Just wanted to chime in and recommend Ghost by example of MG Siegler, who has moved on from Medium (and Substack) for tech writing/coverage.

https://spyglass.org/is-there-a-ghost-in-my-house/


In From the Cold

Well hello there. If you're reading this, you likely (hopefully) signed up to received updates about the project I've been calling "Spyglass" several weeks ago.
M.G. Siegler (Spyglass)
Jason Evangelho
Jason Evangelho  
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@frankstrater I love how clean and readable that site is!
Well, I just need to make a decision between Ghost and Hugo. I feel like Ghost is better suited for more ambitious sites that want to grow, which is exactly what I want to accomplish.
@frankstrater
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