SJVN Tells How Reporting on Linux Has Changed in the Last 10 Years (Video)

Video no longer available.

SJVN is, of course, the well-known nickname and abbreviation for Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols, who has been covering technology as a journalist since... since longer than he cares to admit... and has been covering Linux and FOSS since the 1990s. This was basically a one-question interview: "How has reporting on Linux changed in the last 10 years?" After that, except for a couple of words requesting clarifications, we just let the webcam roll. (Note: if you know someone who would make a good Slashdot video interview victim, please put us in touch with them. Thanks.)

Great guy

[Johnny Mister]

Before he started working as journalist, he was a programmer and a system administrator, so I can see where he is coming from and why Linux interests him. Back in the early 90's I worked very closely with him and it was a blast. He actually has contributed a lot to the Windows kernel and where from Microsoft took most of his good ideas to Windows and which later became the most successful OS ever produced. On OS X side, he has contributed to the creation of Linux like distro system, called App Store, and many of the technology aspects of it come from him.

It's great to see he is still covering Linux and FOSS in general, after 20 years. Awesome fella.

Why video submissions?

[pipatron]

Do people really want video stories? I thought it was just the old-media newspapers that pushed them because you can't skip ads as easily in a stream as you can on a website.

It takes ages to sit through a video with someone talking, compared to reading a transcription, so a written story is obviously superior.

Well-known nickname and abbreviation?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you say so.

And why a video interview.

[jellomizer]

I am sorry for sounding like an old phogie, but why is Slashdot doing these videos. I got 1 minute in and just stopped it because I got a choppy video and a gentleman while I am not judging him isn't that much of a public speaker. Who seems to be saying stuff that has been summarized over and over again.

Most of us have been taught this ability to read. It is a neat skill where we take symbols and without making any noise we can convert them into a method of exchanging ideas. Most of us has gotten so good at it that we can do it much faster then we can transmit the data by voice.

Sure some things are better with video. But an interview like this just sucks minutes from our lives. The speaker isn't really adding anything in Non-Verbal Communication, they are not using animated imagery to express a concept. We just have a guy talking about stuff. Which we could get just as well from reading it.

Re:Great guy

[jellomizer]

Even though he is a great guy. He isn't much of a public speaker. He isn't horrible but isn't that great, he should have put his commentary in texts and had us read it, I think we would have gotten more out of it.

who?

[Lumpy]

"SJVN is, of course, the well-known nickname and abbreviation for Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols"

Honestly, I've been a heavy linux guy for 15 years and I have never heard of this guy, or at least not have heard of him enough to recognize his nickname.

me too!

[Thud457]

I rarely bother to look at a story on any site if it's just a link to a video.

I mean, it's nice that we can (sort of) do video on the web now, but we don't need to use it for every damn thing. Video may be more engaging for most viewers, but you're forced to consume it at it's pace. You can't just leave a page open and dip in to read a paragraph or two in and idle moment. You can't really search within video. And most of the time, you need to have sound enabled to get the most out of a video.

tl;dr - video has some advantages, but you lose a whole lot of what makes the web so goddamned useful.

Re:Why video submissions?

[Bill Dimm]

Most of the videos posted as stories recently have been advertisements. The cynic in me says that this guy paid to have this posted to get publicity for himself, which would only be achieved via video (who notices the byline in a written article?). I wouldn't have suggested such a thing a few months ago, but with the way Slashdot has been run recently the motivation behind the stories that are posted has become murky.

Ads in Videos

[b5bartender]

If a stream starts with an Ad first, it's killed without being watched. End of story. The only thing worse are those web articles presented in "slideshow" format to maximize ad revenue.