Re: Anybody here?

On Mon, Oct 07, 2002 at 11:46:48AM -0700, Josh Berkus wrote:
> Justin,
>
> Who else is here?

I'm here. Shane McChesney, pleased to meet you all. (Justin, I've
talked with you by email before, after you created those great Flash
tutorials on Sequences and Referential Integrity.)

I joined this list about a week after Josh's post above, but saw it
just now in Andrew Sullivan's response.

Bruce Momjian suggested I join this list after I contacted him about
an idea I had... rather than rephrase all that and redundantly
introduce myself, here's the core of the email I sent to Bruce:

>
> I'm considering self-publishing a PostgreSQL magazine. Well, a
> "zine", really, or a technical journal, to promote the adoption of
> PostgreSQL by corporations.
>
> Yesterday I registered http://www.enterprisepgsql.com to give
> myself a place to start work on the idea. There's nothing there
> yet, of course, and this won't happen overnight.
>
> I've been promoting PostgreSQL on my weblog for some time:
>
> Keeping My Money Where My Mouth Is
> http://www.skippingdot.net/2002/01/23
>
> Book Review: PostgreSQL Essential Reference
> http://www.skippingdot.net/2002/01/29
>
> Open Source Databases Linkfest
> http://www.skippingdot.net/2002/01/30
>
> A Structured Comparison Of OSDBs: Part One
> http://www.skippingdot.net/2002/02/01
>
> I think going to a paper periodical could really help promote
> PostgreSQL, and -- I can't promise anything at this stage, of
> course-- perhaps even contribute financially to PostgreSQL
> development down the line.
>
> I look at the 1994 issues of Linux Journal I recently bought on
> eBay, and compare them to the LJ of today, and realize that's how I
> got started with Linux: through the magazines.
>
> I'd like other people to have that opportunity with PostgreSQL.
>
> I'm not looking for any money or effort from you guys (well, maybe
> the odd article down the line), just advice, context. You've been
> around the project a long time, and I'm still just building my
> first few apps on the database.
>
> Do you know of anyone else doing anything like this? A PostgreSQL
> magazine / journal / zine / newsletter? Do you think I'm nuts? What
> other advice would you throw out there?
>
> As an independent -- as in non-BigPub -- self-published project,
> this would start really slow and grow as subscriptions permit. Kind
> of like what Bryan Richard is doing over at Py, at
> http://www.pyzine.com -- I'm holding regular counsel with Bryan for
> his guidance too.
>
> Any thoughts that you could give would be welcome.
>

The weblog mentioned above has as its theme the slow but steady
migration of my business from the MS universe to the Open universe.
PostgreSQL is my database of choice - I haven't used it as much as
I'd have liked yet, but it's where I'm headed, where I want my data
to live.

The idea of doing a self-published zine came out of my conversations
with various people about the shortcomings of computer books (too
thick, quickly out of date) and my desire to work in the print
medium.

I figured, as with my weblog, I might as well write about something I
believe in.

A first issue is months away from seeing print, of course, I'm still
in the planning stage.

I'm interested in knowing what the rest of the list thinks of the
idea... Please don't slap me too hard. :)

Thanks,

Shane McChesney
President,
Wesearch Information Services Inc.
705-735-2587