Linux Format has just printed its 200th issue and is celebrating 15-years of best-selling GNU/Linux coverage. Over 20,000 pages and more than 10 million words (no, we did not count them all) dedicated to promoting and celebrating free and open source software, alongside that ever smiling penguin we all know and love.
To help see how things have (or perhaps haven't) changed since May 2000, we've created not one but two special PDFs; one is of the original Linux Format issue 1 and the other is the original preview issue called Linux Answers, which was printed at the end of 1999.
PCs were different beasts then and Linux was coming out of its embryonic days. Looking back it's a fascinating time with Mandrake Linux and Corel Linux riding high, while names like Ubuntu and Mint didn't even exist. It's also interesting to see how core distros like Debian, SuSE and Red Hat survived, as did core projects like GIMP and Apache, while other fell by the wayside.
Pondering on the future
It's also amazing how similar the magazine is 200 issues on. We're still covering the same type of tutorials, roundups, reviews and coding guides. But then people's need to develop their knowledge and skills remains the same today as it did then.
Instead of installing Definite Linux and connecting to AppleTalk networks, we're installing Debian 8, testing Fedora 22, playing with the kernel 4.0, reviewing the Astro Pi and configuring IPv6 networks. GNU/Linux and the whole area of open source is as exciting now as it was then, but Linux Format would be nothing without the Linux community and our loyal readers old, new and the many longstanding diehards. So from the team here at Linux Format Towers have a heartfelt thank you and here's hoping for another 200 issues.
Buy Linux Format 200 in-store and online now!
