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<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<H1><font color="maroon">LG's Funniest Moments, part 1</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">Mike "Iron" Orr</a></H4>
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<P> To begin the new year, I'm starting a new series "LG's Funniest Moments".
It's a look back at the most hilarious quotes and images from the back issues,
as well as a kind of rough timeline of LG milestones. (Maybe next year
we'll make a <EM>real</EM> timeline....) This month, we'll look at issues
#1 - 11, July 1995 - September 1996.
<P> John Fisk -- LG's illustrious founder, editor of issues #1 - 8,
originator of the Weekend Mechanic column, and all-around swell guy --
introduced the two
<A HREF="../issue01to08/gazette_toc.html">LG slogans</A>/goals/mission
statements all the way back in issue #8 or earlier:
<EM><STRONG>Making Linux just a little bit more fun</STRONG></EM>, and
<EM><STRONG>Sharing ideas and discoveries</STRONG></EM>.
<P> In
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.html">issue #1</A>,
John explained,
"So what <EM>is</EM> the Linux Gazette?"</A>. He answered,
'Primarily writings, ramblings, and other stuff...
and then playing around with things until they either worked or broke
(fortunately, mostly the former :-), Linux finally began to make sense to me.
If you're in the same boat... keep paddling!"
<P>
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.aug.html">Issue #2</A>
showed the first hint of the LG FTP files, although it took several issues to
find a host for the archive. Also, commenting on the formats LG would be
available in, John remarks,
"And if ANYONE broaches the subject of a PostScript file... No."
<P> Typical of John's writing style is
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.aug.html#tar_tricks">this quote</A>:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Whereas UN*X barely belches when you innocently type in
<PRE>
su
cd / ; rm -rf *
</PRE>
just because your smart aleck roommate told you it'd help clean out some unnecessary
files.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html">Issue #3</A> saw the
inauguration of the first LG FAQ, the first Mailbag and the first 2-Cent Tips.
A few quotes:
<UL>
<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html#tips">2-Cent Tip</A>:
"Well, you're <EM>really</EM> getting tired of having your LINUX BOX referred
to as WussyCakes just because your techno-dweebe buddies got on when you
weren't around and changed your hostname and you can't figure out how to get
it back." John shows you how to change your hostname back to
SuperBadHombreLINUXBox.
<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html#fvwm">FVWM article</A>:
"As most of you know, the fvwm program stands for F.... Virtual Window Manager.
The meaning of the 'F...' has apparently been lost somewhere in antiquity with
no original manuscripts extant to shed light on its true meaning. Still, if you
read the docs, there have been suggestions that it might stand for 'Feeble,
Fun, Fantastic, ...'. Who knows."
[See what you learn when you read "LG's Funniest Moments"? I bet you never
thought about what the "F" stands for.]
<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html">Another gem of a hint</A>:
"Practice safe X."
</UL>
<P> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.nov.html">Issue #5</A> says LG is now
freely available for mirroring. It also gives an indication of how much
reader participation was already going into building the Gazette:
"Well, I've had so much mail recently, and so many great suggestions and such
that this month's LG is "dedicated" to those of you that have written."
<P> <A HREF="../issue09/index.html">Issue #9</A> was the issue that John
Fisk turned LG over to SSC, and Marjorie Richardson became the editor, a
position she would hold for almost three years. (I'm LG's third editor.)
During that time, she gave herself successive promotions, from mere Editor to
Overseer, and finally to Ruler of the Gazette. (By the way, now is the time to
give SSC a bit of recognition. People wondered whether LG would remain free.
Five years later, it still is.)
<P> Issue #9 also shows the inauguration of the TWDT files. John Fisk
published LG with the entire issue in one HTML file. Margie found it more
convenient to put each article in a separate file. However, LG's
most-requested feature immediately became a return to the one-file format.
Margie finally threw up her hands and said, "OK, here's The Whole Damn Thing",
and TWDT became a parallel file in each issue. Nowadays, we don't say "damn"
because of a controversy that erupted a couple years later, but you'll have to
wait till a future "LG's Funniest Moments" to read about <EM>that</EM>. So we
euphemize it to "TWDT" and "the all-in-one file".
<P> Margie's first issue also introduced much of the artwork and formatting
styles that LG is still using. However, the logo was different. It looked
like this:
<IMG ALT="[old LG logo]" SRC="../gx/banner.gif" WIDTH="593" HEIGHT="112"
VSPACE="10">
<P> <A HREF="../issue11/index.html">Issue #11</A>, October 1996, has nice
binder rings on the left side of the title page, some of the common artwork
icons we occasionally recycle (the penguin reading the newspaper, the
Weekend Mechanic looking under the hood of his car), John Fisk's first
<A HREF="../issue11/wkndmech.html">Weekend Mechanic</A> column and Michael
Hammel's first <A HREF="../issue11/gm.html">Graphics Muse</A> column. #11 also
started what has become a Halloween tradition: changing the slogan from
"Making Linux just a little more fun!" to "Making Linux just a little less
scary!", with a jack-o'lantern image.
<P> Not to be missed are
<A HREF="../issue11/lg_tips11.html#emacs">Rick Bronson's thumbs-up
signature</A>, and
<A HREF="../issue11/lg_tips11.html#vi">John R Potter's 2-Cent Tip</A> that
begins, " I thought you might
be interested in my favorite vi trick, which is not a vi trick at all."
<P> Next month, I'll look at the next ten issues or so. See you then.
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<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Mike Orr</H4>
<EM> Mike ("Iron") is the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>. You can read what he
has to say in the Back Page column in this issue. He has been a Linux
enthusiast since 1991 and a Debian user since 1995. He is SSC's web technical
coordinator, which means he gets to write a lot of Python scripts.
Non-computer interests include Ska/Oi! music and the international language
Esperanto. The nickname Iron was given to him in college--short for Iron Orr,
hahaha.</EM>
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<H5 ALIGN=center>
Copyright &copy; 2002, Mike "Iron" Orr.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
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