After several years of publishing newsletters in the OS/400 server market, IT Jungle is expanding out into the Windows, Linux, and Unix markets that many of its editors have substantial experience in already. We think that the current crop of competitive publications in these markets leave much to be desired for both readers and advertisers.

While there are not shortages of IT publications out there on the Internet or in print, the current crop of products do have their shortcomings. Some of the broader publications that we all know by name--Computerworld, InfoWorld, InformationWeek, and so forth--provide decent news, but they tend to be unfocused in terms of talking about specific platforms. And even those publications that do zero in on particular IT platforms often tend to have a focus that is much too tight to be useful.

For instance, there are Linux publications that can tell you all about the guts of the Linux kernel, but they do not talk about Linux middleware, the servers that run Linux, or the fledgling corporate Linux culture, which is distinct from the open source meritocracy that created Linux under the guiding hand of Linus Torvalds. Here's another example: There are a number of popular Windows news sites that can tell you every word that comes out of the mouths of the top brass at Microsoft, but these publications, in our opinion, do not understand corporate data processing and the technologies that are important to real-world IT departments. They do not cover the full breadth of technologies that support Windows platforms--they are particularly weak in covering server, storage, and non-Microsoft technologies.

Not only do such publications not serve readers as effectively as they might--since they are too broad to deal with the strategic and tactical matters facing IT managers, system administrators, and programmers--but they do not serve their advertisers as effectively, either. Advertisers, like consumers of IT publications, still think in terms of specific platforms. We think by having publications that are targeted by specific platforms--and by specific areas of interest within those platforms, such as news and analysis, product announcements, tech tips and programming advice--we can better get advertisers' messages in front of readers who are most likely to be interested in their products and services.

The IT Jungle approach to IT publishing is not theoretical, but based on many years of experience by our staff as they worked at publishing companies that produced online newsletters and magazines in the OS/400, Unix, Windows, and general IT markets. We have seen the strategies that failed during and after the dot-com boom and we have created a set of products in the OS/400 market that have succeeded despite intense competition from much larger organizations. Our OS/400 newsletters succeed because we offer affordable advertising in newsletters that have exceptional content, and we intend to take the same approach as we build out into the Windows, Linux, and Unix markets.

IT Jungle publishes newsletters Monday through Thursday. We have learned from experience that IT professionals tend to be very busy on Fridays, and that this is not a good time to publish.

IT Jungle is comprised of four different types of newsletters:

1. Flagship newsletters that track the major vendor announcements and culture of a particular platform. These flagship newsletters also include guest columnists from prominent IT experts and professionals and provide analysis of complex pricing and performance issues related to the platform. Moreover, they provide strategic and tactical advice to IT professionals trying to make the best use of the platform. The flagship newsletters are as follows:
   
   • OS/400 platform: The Four Hundred, edited by Timothy Prickett Morgan
     Frequency: Weekly on Mondays
   • Linux platform: The Linux Beacon, edited by Timothy Prickett Morgan
     Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays
   • Linux platform: Big Iron, edited by Dan Burger, Timothy Prickett Morgan, and Hesh Wiener
     Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays
   • Windows platform: The Windows Observer, edited by Alex Woodie
     Frequency: Weekly on Wednesday
   • Unix platform: The Unix Guardian, edited by Timothy Prickett Morgan
     Frequency: Weekly on Thursday
2. Products newsletters that delve into the many products that IT vendors announce for specific platforms each week. Our flagship newsletters are not big enough to do justice to the many good products that are out there in the market, which is why we have products newsletters, which bear the Stuff moniker, dedicated to this task:
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Stuff, edited by Alex Woodie
     Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays
   • Linux platform: Linux Stuff
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Windows platform: Windows Stuff
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Unix platform: Unix Stuff
     Frequency: Coming soon!
3. Technical newsletters that provide technical tips, programming advice, systems administration assistance, and other tactical help relating to the coding of applications and the management of a particular platform. Many competitive newsletters mix this technical content in with their news, analysis, and products content, but we believe that technical readers want technical content separately and that specific advertisers want to place their ads against technical material. Our technical newsletters bear the Guru name in addition to their platform designation:
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Guru, edited by Howard Arner, Joe Hertvik, Ted Holt, Shannon O'Donnell, and Kevin Vandever
     Frequency: Weekly on Wednesday
   • Linux platform: Linux Guru
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Windows platform: Windows Guru
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Unix platform: Unix Guru
     Frequency: Coming soon!
4. Weekly wrapup newsletters for busy IT professionals who may have not had enough time to peruse the news and technical content in a particular interest area during the week. Our Monitor series of newsletters take an agnostic view of content and point to the top stories for a particular platform, including our own content as well as that of our competitors. We are interested in providing a valuable service to our readers with the Monitor letters, including top news stories as well as pointers to major product announcements and promotions, technical resources (such as white papers) published by vendors, and a calendar of future events (such as webinars, seminars, and trade shows) of interest to IT professionals.
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Monitor, edited by Dan Burger
     Frequency: Weekly on Wednesday
   • Linux platform: Linux Monitor
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Windows platform: Windows Monitor
     Frequency: Coming soon!
   • Unix platform: Unix Monitor
     Frequency: Coming soon!