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Posted to modperl@perl.apache.org by Stas Bekman <st...@stason.org> on 2000/06/23 10:55:21 UTC
[advocacy] writing articles
Folks, if you think that you can write a few articles about mod_perl
please approach one of the many online magazines about web technology,
linux, unix (ms?) and what not, and offer to write about it. All you have
to do is to go to the site, find an email of the publisher and offer
yourself, probably giving a tentative proposal when you approach the
publisher for the first time.
mod_perl suffers from a lack of publicity. Having more magazines talk
about mod_perl will lead to more mod_perl users, which in turn leads to
more bugs reported and fixed, more users becoming developers and
contributors to both the software and the mailing list.
I remember that thread about people not really wanting a spread use of
mod_perl which will make their salaries significantly smaller, which is
kinda selfish but seems to be Ok with me :) I think that we are still far
away from this to happen. So have no fear.
You wrote a nice module that plugs into mod_perl? Write about it!
You use a mod_perl module that makes your day? Write about it!
You are excited about mod_perl being so fast? Write about it!
You have a way to overcome some problem? Write about it!
You want to share your joy with others? Write about it!
Think about contributing back. Based on my little experience I can say
that writing articles is a really educating and nice experience. It will
improve your confidence in yourself, especially in presenting your
knowledge in public. Which is so much easier than talking in public
(conferences) and it can be the first step on the way to become a speaker
at the conference, which is an amaizing experience for those who have
never taught in public.
When writing an article you will have to make sure that things you are
talking about are correct and therefore polishing your knowledge of the
subject.
If you need to feed your ego, writing is a great way to do. You can show
your name to your relatives and easy way to have a girlfriend if she
happens to be a web savvy person :)
And hey, you get paid for that. I know that for many of us, money is not a
problem, but it's still a nice bonus for a few hours of work once in a
while.
If you wrote the article and you afraid that it includes some incorrect
details, or you need a help don't hesitate to post it to the list before
you submit it to the publisher. I'm sure people on the list would be glad
to correct wrong details and provide extra information you didn't think
about, making your article even better.
Remember that open source community exists only because there are people
who give back, so if you want to make sure that it will not seize to exist
and become even better -- give back!
_____________________________________________________________________
Stas Bekman JAm_pH -- Just Another mod_perl Hacker
http://stason.org/ mod_perl Guide http://perl.apache.org/guide
mailto:stas@stason.org http://perl.org http://stason.org/TULARC
http://singlesheaven.com http://perlmonth.com http://sourcegarden.org
Re: [advocacy] writing articles
Posted by Gunther Birznieks <gu...@extropia.com>.
They usually pay by the word rather than the line though. So it makes sense
to say things several times but using different mechanisms. You know, kind
of like going over an idea again but with a slightly different twist.
Sometimes you can liken this to using different wording to discuss the same
meme.
Actually though, I can say that I have been quite pleased with writing for
internet.com and they are occasionally looking for writers. I would
recommend them to anyone looking to write good articles. I especially like
them because they only take exclusive rights to the work for 6 months
(after that you can republish it or resell it any way you like). So it
appeals to the open source nature of the work...
I am sure others do that but Internet.com did it for me by default. Usually
I have to press other publishers to give rights back after an exclusivity
period. It's just kind of nice to know that what you write can be given
back to make it potentially more open down the road.
Of course, in the end they are all a business. So if they don't want
mod_perl, you don't need to write an article about mod_perl to be able to
talk about it. I just did a joint "How a Web Server Works" article for
ServerWatch side of Internet.com and slipped in some advocacy stuff about
mod_perl... It was perfectly appropriate within the context of the topic
that I was talking about.
I agree with Stas. More people should write. It's a real growth experience.
Writing or speaking forces you to think in a very different way. It forces
you to look at all angles and all possible ways of presenting something. I
find myself being a lot harder on myself if I have to produce something for
public consumption.
The only downer is that I also know that writing can seem quite daunting as
a task... and may even be considered not fun. Well, I guess to each his own.
But I like it. I don't necessarily think I am even as good a writer as some
others on this list, but I also know that when I look at stuff that I did 6
years ago and stuff I do now, I know I am a much better writer than I was 6
years ago. I really enjoy having had the opportunity to grow in that way.
And I would encourage others to experience the same benefit.
At 10:56 AM 6/23/00 -0400, Vivek Khera wrote:
> >>>>> "KR" == Kevin Reichard <kr...@internet.com> writes:
>
>KR> Plus, we do pay $. ;)
>
>So
>I
>guess
>it
>makes
>sense
>to
>make
>your
>articles
>as
>many
>lines
>long
>as
>possible
>in
>order
>to
>maximize
>the
>value
>of
>$.
>
>;-)
>
>--
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>Vivek Khera, Ph.D. Khera Communications, Inc.
>Internet: khera@kciLink.com Rockville, MD +1-301-545-6996
>GPG & MIME spoken here http://www.khera.org/~vivek/
Re: [advocacy] writing articles
Posted by Vivek Khera <kh...@kciLink.com>.
>>>>> "KR" == Kevin Reichard <kr...@internet.com> writes:
KR> Plus, we do pay $. ;)
So
I
guess
it
makes
sense
to
make
your
articles
as
many
lines
long
as
possible
in
order
to
maximize
the
value
of
$.
;-)
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Vivek Khera, Ph.D. Khera Communications, Inc.
Internet: khera@kciLink.com Rockville, MD +1-301-545-6996
GPG & MIME spoken here http://www.khera.org/~vivek/
Re: [advocacy] writing articles
Posted by Kevin Reichard <kr...@internet.com>.
To follow up: Feel free to contact me at Apache Today
(http://www.apachetoday.com) with any article ideas. Stas has contributed to
the site, and we're always looking for more articles from the community.
Plus, we do pay $. ;)
--Kevin Reichard
Stas Bekman wrote:
> Folks, if you think that you can write a few articles about mod_perl
> please approach one of the many online magazines about web technology,
> linux, unix (ms?) and what not, and offer to write about it. All you have
> to do is to go to the site, find an email of the publisher and offer
> yourself, probably giving a tentative proposal when you approach the
> publisher for the first time.
>
> mod_perl suffers from a lack of publicity. Having more magazines talk
> about mod_perl will lead to more mod_perl users, which in turn leads to
> more bugs reported and fixed, more users becoming developers and
> contributors to both the software and the mailing list.
>
> I remember that thread about people not really wanting a spread use of
> mod_perl which will make their salaries significantly smaller, which is
> kinda selfish but seems to be Ok with me :) I think that we are still far
> away from this to happen. So have no fear.
>
> You wrote a nice module that plugs into mod_perl? Write about it!
> You use a mod_perl module that makes your day? Write about it!
> You are excited about mod_perl being so fast? Write about it!
> You have a way to overcome some problem? Write about it!
> You want to share your joy with others? Write about it!
>
> Think about contributing back. Based on my little experience I can say
> that writing articles is a really educating and nice experience. It will
> improve your confidence in yourself, especially in presenting your
> knowledge in public. Which is so much easier than talking in public
> (conferences) and it can be the first step on the way to become a speaker
> at the conference, which is an amaizing experience for those who have
> never taught in public.
>
> When writing an article you will have to make sure that things you are
> talking about are correct and therefore polishing your knowledge of the
> subject.
>
> If you need to feed your ego, writing is a great way to do. You can show
> your name to your relatives and easy way to have a girlfriend if she
> happens to be a web savvy person :)
>
> And hey, you get paid for that. I know that for many of us, money is not a
> problem, but it's still a nice bonus for a few hours of work once in a
> while.
>
> If you wrote the article and you afraid that it includes some incorrect
> details, or you need a help don't hesitate to post it to the list before
> you submit it to the publisher. I'm sure people on the list would be glad
> to correct wrong details and provide extra information you didn't think
> about, making your article even better.
>
> Remember that open source community exists only because there are people
> who give back, so if you want to make sure that it will not seize to exist
> and become even better -- give back!
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Stas Bekman JAm_pH -- Just Another mod_perl Hacker
> http://stason.org/ mod_perl Guide http://perl.apache.org/guide
> mailto:stas@stason.org http://perl.org http://stason.org/TULARC
> http://singlesheaven.com http://perlmonth.comhttp://sourcegarden.org
--
Kevin Reichard
Managing Editor, Linux/Open-Source Channel
internet.com
Re: [advocacy] writing articles
Posted by Matt Sergeant <ma...@sergeant.org>.
On Fri, 23 Jun 2000, Stas Bekman wrote:
> You wrote a nice module that plugs into mod_perl? Write about it!
I'm working on more AxKit articles - I should have another coming up
sometime on xml.com. I'd welcome others to write about it too, and be
willing to help with any proof reading.
> If you need to feed your ego, writing is a great way to do. You can show
> your name to your relatives and easy way to have a girlfriend if she
> happens to be a web savvy person :)
This made my week. I don't think my wife would be too happy though ;-)
--
<Matt/>
Fastnet Software Ltd. High Performance Web Specialists
Providing mod_perl, XML, Sybase and Oracle solutions
Email for training and consultancy availability.
http://sergeant.org | AxKit: http://axkit.org