Economy Size Geek

I wasn’t sure when I was going to talk about this, but I have some good news. I have a new column in Linux Journal. All in all, that’s pretty cool! Both because I have such a long history with the magazine, but also because I’m such a big proponent of Linux.

So far it has been a rough road to hoe. The first deadline was right after my accident. That meant putting some painful time in a chair just so I could I write an article that was long enough. The additional challenge was that the first two subjects were my weakest - Embedded and Security. There are lots of things I do with computers - but I tend to avoid those to areas like the plague.

Truth be told, I thought the reason I was struggling was the subject matter. Normally, I can sit down and speak/write 1000 words on just about any subject. In this case, I had a hard time putting keyboard to open office document. Sure I was in pain - that never helps the creative process. I was writing about things I don’t normally enjoy - that doesn’t help either.

It turns out that the form itself is what was really causing me problems. If you pickup a copy of Linux Journal or Linux Format or any of the other technical journals you will quickly get a feel for the writing style. It breaks down into three categories. First, reporting things as they are. This kind of article replays some event for people who weren’t paying attention. The canonical version is one about kernel development. Who has the time to read the mailing list? This is an easy way to see what is getting included in the next release. The second is the pontification. In this kind of article, the author tackles some kind of broad topic (like the rise of the Linux desktop or penetration of Linux in the enterprise) and describes the situation and possible ways to make things better. The third form has the most representatives, I’ll call it the recipe article. In this article, the author walks you through a path of very specific steps that result in a very specific outcome. I call it a recipe because it tends to follow the same path as a cooking recipe - ingredients, getting setup, steps involved, and final product.

The recipe is cool because it shows you concretely how to do something. When I got the column I though I’d be cranking out recipes for things that I’m doing in my daily life. Turns out I’m a terrible recipe writer. I usually start out with some sort of vague goal that I optimistically think I can accomplish. In the process of pursuing it, I end up learning a lot of extraneous stuff. I also end up pursuing a lot of dead ends. I don’t know that they are dead ends when I start, but eventually stall out and realize I’m not much closer to my goal.

I’m trying to introduce a new form - less recipe - more lab notebook. Instead of editing out and hiding away all the dead ends, I record them. I try to put up signs for the people who come behind me - don’t do this it doesn’t work the way you think it will. It ends up making the article a lot less pristine. In some cases, I end up changing my goal midstream just so I can actually claim victory. That is just how my process of exploration works. To me the failures are as important as the successes.

I’m about to turn in my second article in this style. I have no idea how people are going to re-act to it. Will they like it because it gives them the info they need to explore what I’m talking about, or will they hate it because it just introduces a lot of kruft? I have no idea. What I have learned from the process is that I find it a much easier way to write. It is how I approach the problem, and it seems like a waste to throw out all that extra learning just because it might distract you. I guess I feel like it will only distract you if you are trying to do exactly what I was trying to do. Most of the time, I can’t find a recipe for what I want to do. Instead i have to comb through several and try to intuit which parts apply as I build my path on the fly.

So wish me luck! I tried to write recipes and failed. I guess I’m just not that organized. If it turns out that the readers hate my way, I’ll end up writing technical posts on my blog again - which isn’t the end of the world, but will bum me out. I love writing. Having a monthly deadline has been complicated, but has also allowed me to follow up on projects I would have left on my back shelf. In my wildest dreams, I hope people like it and I get other people to do the same. That way when I go look for information to help me do what I want to do, I have a better chance of finding pitfalls before I even get started.