Re:Linux Toolbox
by shekhar101 on Saturday December 14, 2019 @02:52PM
(#21791743)
This is fantastic! Tangentially related but I'd really like to learn such byte sized stuff about Linux and Linux tools. Anyone has any nice resources I, a grown up, can refer to?
I guess I just don’t really understand the “zine” movement of the last decade, especially with regards to technical information. Is this a left-brain/right-brain thing?
Re:Linux Toolbox
by wpietri on Saturday December 14, 2019 @12:19PM
(#21790607)
Have you tried reading the zines in this set? I love 'em.
Even as a greybeard, I learn the occasional bit, but what I really get out of them is a reminder of how amazing computers are. The author's excitement is contagious.
If I were in a physical office these days, I'd absolutely buy the boxed set to have around for junior engineers. I'm lucky in that when I started out, computers were orders of magnitude less complex. I got to grow along with them. But these days, there's so much of everything and in so many dimensions.
About 70% of my job with interns and juniors is just to tell them, "Yes, your feelings of overwhelming ignorance are reasonable, but let's instead focus on learning what you need to get to get the next thing shipped." Having fun, readable introductions to tools and concepts like this is a great way to make technology less overwhelming, so I'm all for it.
Re:Linux Toolbox
by lghh on Saturday December 14, 2019 @12:02PM
(#21790476)
Left brain v Right brain is mostly bunk [1]. Additionally, the zine trend is nothing new. It is just making its way to computing in a way I have not noticed before. It's been common in music scenes, especially punk, for a long time.
I like it because it presents information in a more conversational way and has more personality. I like Julia's stuff because it feels like you're learning the topic with her rather than being talked at. Having hand drawn visuals also lets a lot of information be communicated quickly in a way that's harder than just text in some instances.
Re:Linux Toolbox
by derefr on Saturday December 14, 2019 @12:57PM
(#21790896)
I know it’s completely irrational of me, but seeing something called a “zine” is offputting, since the central example of that term is usually a short political tabloid. (And it doesn’t even convey the information I expect from the “format noun”—zines are not usually illustrated!)
I’d really rather see these called what they are: educational graphic novels.
But I know why these end up getting called “zines”: it’s because there’re only a few major publishing cultures, sort of broken down along two axes (corporate vs. independent; fictional/author-driven vs. journalistic/editor-driven), and a person will end up enculturated with the terms of the publishing culture they learn the trade from. The “independent + editor-driven” culture calls everything they make “zines”, so that’s the term you need to use to communicate what you’re doing to your friends, if you’re a part of that culture.
Common in art communities and smaller circulations. Just an easy way to bundle things together and circulate them. Making zines are "democratized" now so they're seeing a comeback
Even as a greybeard, I learn the occasional bit, but what I really get out of them is a reminder of how amazing computers are. The author's excitement is contagious.
If I were in a physical office these days, I'd absolutely buy the boxed set to have around for junior engineers. I'm lucky in that when I started out, computers were orders of magnitude less complex. I got to grow along with them. But these days, there's so much of everything and in so many dimensions.
About 70% of my job with interns and juniors is just to tell them, "Yes, your feelings of overwhelming ignorance are reasonable, but let's instead focus on learning what you need to get to get the next thing shipped." Having fun, readable introductions to tools and concepts like this is a great way to make technology less overwhelming, so I'm all for it.
I like it because it presents information in a more conversational way and has more personality. I like Julia's stuff because it feels like you're learning the topic with her rather than being talked at. Having hand drawn visuals also lets a lot of information be communicated quickly in a way that's harder than just text in some instances.
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/16/left-r...
I’d really rather see these called what they are: educational graphic novels.
But I know why these end up getting called “zines”: it’s because there’re only a few major publishing cultures, sort of broken down along two axes (corporate vs. independent; fictional/author-driven vs. journalistic/editor-driven), and a person will end up enculturated with the terms of the publishing culture they learn the trade from. The “independent + editor-driven” culture calls everything they make “zines”, so that’s the term you need to use to communicate what you’re doing to your friends, if you’re a part of that culture.
That’s quite a mouthful.
Common in art communities and smaller circulations. Just an easy way to bundle things together and circulate them. Making zines are "democratized" now so they're seeing a comeback
You mean the come back? Zines were very popular in the 90s. We're just rediscovering them.