A note from LWN [LWN.net]

The online publication industry, as a whole, is struggling, with challenges
coming from multiple directions. Thanks to the support of all of you, our
readers, LWN would appear to be doing better than most. But the world has
changed around us and, in particular, prices have changed considerably. By
now, you probably know where this is going: subscription prices at LWN will
be increasing as of September 15.

We adopted the subscription model in late 2002; it was one of the best
decisions we have ever made. This model makes us independent of the
volatile (and surveillance-driven) advertising market and aligns our
interests with those of our readers. But it does depend on support from
those readers; if you have not yet subscribed to LWN, please consider doing so now — our subscribers are the only
reason we continue to exist.

We have only increased prices twice in the 24 years since adopting this
model; the last increase was in early 2022,
nearly five years ago. That increase helped to keep us on a stable
footing, and a lot more besides. We were able to hire Daroc Alden and Joe
Brockmeier, and they have greatly increased the depth and range of our
coverage. The LWN site has been improved in a number of ways, with
features like articles in EPUB format, markdown formatting for comments,
the kernel source database, full-text email and RSS
feeds, dark-mode support, the public topic list,
and more. A lot of effort has also gone into keeping the site alive,
responsive, and reader-friendly in the face of escalating scraper attacks.

Since the 2022 price change, according to the undoubtedly reliable numbers
from the US government, consumer-price inflation has added up to almost
exactly 20%. Some costs (health insurance, naturally) have gone up rather
more than that. We will be matching the inflation number, though, and
increase prices by approximately 20%; the new monthly prices will be:

Level	Price
Starving hacker	$6.00
Professional hacker	$11.00
Project leader	$19.00
Maniacal supporter	$55.00

Prices for group subscriptions will be increased by the same amount.

All subscriptions purchased ahead of the change will remain valid through
the original expiration date. The policy for individual monthly
subscriptions is a little different this time; all monthly subscriptions
that were active before this announcement went out will be charged
at the old rate for the following six months. Reminders will be sent out
to monthly subscribers before the new rates take effect.

There are few things we like less than raising prices, which is why we have
done it so rarely. It would be far better to keep LWN as inexpensive as
possible and make it up in volume. Subscriber growth has stalled, though,
in recent years, making that strategy unworkable for now. We are working
on schemes to bring in more subscribers again, but that is a long-term
process; getting there requires some short-term help.

In January, LWN will begin its 30th year of publication. There is really
only one reason why we are still here and vital after all that time: it is
because our readers have always supported us. There are not many people
who have had the good fortune to write for such a loyal community, and we
are deeply grateful for it. Thank you, as always, for supporting LWN.

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