computer books in Toronto (Chapters)

[Evan Leibovitch]

Fernando Duran wrote:

>following the old topic of computer book stores in Toronto, I have to say that the selection in the three Chapters close to my house (hwy 7 a little W of 400, Steels & Yongue, Yorkdale Mall) is nothing to brag about.
>
Given your implied location, perhaps you might also want to try the York 
University Bookstore.

>I counted 5 (or it was 7?) Linux magazines, mostly British ones with CDs aimed at users.
>  
>
I've had some very interesting talks with the publishers of Linux 
printed media about the Linux magazine market. It's weird.

The vast majority of global Linux magazine readership (outside east 
Asia, Italy and the francophonie) is split between the US-based Linux 
Journal and the German-based (but produced in six languages) Linux 
Magazine. The two magazines are sold very differently, because in North 
America the vast bulk of magazines are delivered through subscriptions 
but elsewhere most magazines are sold retail at bookstores and 
newsstands. This is not just the case for Linux or IT magazines, but 
applies throughout the industry. It also helps explain why there are so 
few newsstands in English Canada.

The high retail sales of magazines in Europe is the reason that so many 
of them come with non-paper freebies. Linux Magazine almost always comes 
with a DVD of current distributions and free software, which likely 
jacks up its price for no other reason than the shipping cost.

Confusing the situation is the fact that there are _two_ 
English-language magazines called "Linux Magazine" -- the aforementioned 
European-based one (http://www.linux-magazine.com/) based in the UK, and 
an American one (http://www.linuxmagazine.com/). In the US, the European 
publication is called "Linux Pro Magazine" for obvious trademark 
reasons. (The word "PRO" on the cover is not in particularly large type 
:-) ).

In Canada, we get the British version (as they can use the name "Linux 
Magazine" here), which means that the copies on sale at the bookstores 
have DVDs attached. However, the content is almost identical to the US 
version.

The end result is that Canadian bookstores could be conceivably be 
carrying two different periodicals calling themselves "Linux Magazine". 
If you encounter that, remember that the larger European-based one 
likely has a DVD attached.

- Evan

--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml