The website Linux Advocates is no more. The site, which focused on a variety of Linux issues, went offline on January 7th with little fanfare and no advance notice. The site had been being published for two years, having gone live in early 2013.
Before taking the site down, a notice was posted by site owner Dietrich Schmitz, which can still be read on the site’s Facebook page.
“I’ve decided to close Linux Advocates. It started out fun but turned into something else. People matter to me. There’s a Big World out there and Linux is one small facet of my life.
“I’ll continue to hang out on Google Plus and, if the spirit moves me, write something on my personal website. Thanks to all the LA Contributors.
“So, Goodbye Linux Advocates. Hello World.”
Schmitz did the lion’s share of writing for the site, which focused almost entirely Linux, both technically and otherwise. Occasionally, articles moved away from tech, into realm of politics and economics, having no clear connection with Linux or FOSS.
In the beginning, popular Linux writer Katherine Noyes, aka “Linux Girl,” was associated with Linux Advocates. Although it appeared to some that she might have had an ownership interest in the site, Schmitz says she did not. Her association with the site ended at least a year ago.
During the time Noyes was identified with the site, it created some excitement in the FOSS community, with many well known FOSS writers signing up to become regular contributors. Except for a couple of sporadic articles, that plan never came to fruition and the site mainly became a platform for Schmitz’s writings.
Under Schmitz, the site was nothing if not eccentric. Although it lost its “mainstream” appeal (as much as a site focusing on FOSS can be said to be mainstream), it seemed to have gained a following of readers who appreciated Schmitz’s often confrontational style.
However, for about the last year the pace of publication slowed down greatly. New articles appeared here and there, but not on any kind of discernible schedule. But it didn’t appear to be down-for-the-count. When the site went dark, it was actively seeking new writers through a notice on its home page.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on January 10, 2015 at 9:30 p.m. EST to clarify Katherine Noyes relationship to Linux Advocates according to new information from Dietrich Schmitz.
I remember Dietrich Schmitz. Posted a few mildly informative articles, only to turn into a nasty troll who viciously attacked pretty much everyone who didn’t fully agree with him, e. g. all the clueless folks who didn’t use Fedora and Xfce. There were days when I wondered if Dietrich Schmitz was Caitlyn Martin with a beard.
@Microlinux Funny you should say such. Actually, the downfall of Linux Advocates began when the aforementioned Ms. Martin posted this article titled It Seems I Won’t Be Writing For Linux Advocates After All in May of 2013 on her blog:
http://thelinuxworks.blogspot.com/2013/05/it-seems-i-wont-be-writing-for-linux.html
Wow, I didn’t know they were still around. Microlinux should be a carpenter because he hit the nail on the head. After reading the “fedora is the only distro worth using” article, I lost all interest in the site.
to be honest, I didnt mind the site even though I didnt go too often simply because it was different and while he was confrontational, he isnt on my top 5 list of insufferable Linux writers.
id rather gouge my own eyes than read anything Fagioli and Lunduke have to say. Seriously, I can think anyone worse. Schmitz wasnt a fraction of a c^^^, these guys are.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (or something)? Like fingernails on a board.
Slashdot now is simply nauseating.
So maybe its a question of him being bad but not as bad as others but if I read one more K. Noyes “lets ask the same Linux people to write my content” Ill scream.
i think the biggest problem was not being too clear what he wanted to do with the site, not being able to find a niche within a niche.
I usually found Dietrich Schmitz quite entertaining most times. It’s when he went off about bitcoins that I lost interest.
I found I agreed with him a lot about Fedora, but I am a solid Cinnamon user, so he lost me on the xfce topics.
It’s sad to see that site go. With the age of facebook, everyone seems to be a bit crazy when they rant from their soapbox. Even I could be accused of being a little bent about some topics.
Have you heard my rant about Stallman? “Mr. Feedom” or in other words “Mr. it’s free… unless you use anything that is under GNU… then it isn’t free at all, we become very oppressive”
Katherine Noyes had no financial interest in LA.
She was there when I needed support and I appreciate that.
I haven’t ruled out creating another website. What will it be? Honestly at the moment I’ve reached my saturation level with Linux and will see how I feel in a few months.
Thanks for the write-up Christine and Happy New Year.
@Dietrich Schmitz Thanks for the information. We’ve updated the article accordingly.
@Christine Hall. A few years ago, Caitlyn Martin had some interesting things to say on her O’Reilly blog. But at some point, something must have happened. She announced a Slackware-based distribution that never saw the light of day, made a fool of herself in the Slackware forums and couldn’t digest that, and starting from there, her writing was either calling names on all the clueless folks who didn’t use RHEL/CentOS like herself, or downright fascist ranting (Edward Snowden should be in a federal prison, Europe turns into Eurabia, yadda yadda). I think when Ms Martin enters a room, everybody’s blood pressure goes up several notches. The Linux world has quite many interesting writers and/or bloggers, so don’t waste your time with the trolls. :o)