A note on subscription prices from LWN
A note on subscription prices from LWN
关于 LWN 订阅价格的说明
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.
整个在线出版行业目前都在苦苦挣扎，面临着来自多方面的挑战。多亏了各位读者的支持，LWN 的状况似乎比大多数同行要好。但我们周围的世界已经发生了变化，尤其是物价有了相当大的变动。读到这里，你们大概已经猜到我们要说什么了：自 9 月 15 日起，LWN 的订阅价格将会上调。
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.
我们在 2002 年底采用了订阅模式；这是我们做过的最正确的决定之一。这种模式使我们能够独立于波动剧烈（且以监控为导向）的广告市场，并将我们的利益与读者的利益保持一致。但这确实依赖于读者的支持；如果您还没有订阅 LWN，请考虑现在订阅——我们的订阅者是我们能够持续存在的唯一理由。
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.
自采用该模式以来的 24 年里，我们仅上调过两次价格；上一次涨价是在 2022 年初，距今已近五年。那次涨价帮助我们保持了稳定的财务状况，并带来了更多成果。我们得以聘请了 Daroc Alden 和 Joe Brockmeier，他们极大地提升了我们报道的深度和广度。LWN 网站也进行了多项改进，增加了 EPUB 格式文章、评论 Markdown 格式、内核源码数据库、全文邮件和 RSS 订阅、深色模式支持、公共主题列表等功能。为了在日益严重的爬虫攻击面前保持网站的存活、响应速度和阅读友好性，我们也投入了大量精力。
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:
自 2022 年调整价格以来，根据美国政府无疑可靠的数据，消费者价格通胀累计正好约为 20%。某些成本（如医疗保险）的涨幅自然更高。不过，我们将与通胀水平保持一致，将价格上调约 20%；新的月度订阅价格如下：
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Starving hacker | $6.00 |
| Professional hacker | $11.00 |
| Project leader | $19.00 |
| Maniacal supporter | $55.00 |
| 等级 | 价格 |
|---|---|
| 饥饿的黑客 (Starving hacker) | $6.00 |
| 专业黑客 (Professional hacker) | $11.00 |
| 项目负责人 (Project leader) | $19.00 |
| 狂热支持者 (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.
团体订阅的价格也将按相同比例上调。在价格调整前购买的所有订阅在原有效期内均保持有效。个人月度订阅的政策此次略有不同；在本次公告发布前处于激活状态的所有月度订阅，在接下来的六个月内仍将按旧价格收费。在新的费率生效前，我们会向月度订阅者发送提醒。
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.
我们最不喜欢的事情之一就是涨价，这也是我们很少涨价的原因。如果能让 LWN 保持低价并通过增加订阅量来弥补成本，那当然更好。然而，近年来订阅者增长陷入停滞，使得这一策略目前难以奏效。我们正在制定吸引更多订阅者的方案，但这需要一个长期的过程；要实现这一目标，需要一些短期的帮助。
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.
明年一月，LWN 将迎来创刊 30 周年。历经如此漫长的岁月，我们依然存在并保持活力，原因只有一个：我们的读者始终支持着我们。能有幸为这样一群忠实的社区撰稿的人并不多，我们对此深表感激。一如既往，感谢你们对 LWN 的支持。