Pick operating system periodicals

Pragma (later becoming Pragma's Product Profiles) was a periodical produced by Semaphore Corporation for Pick operating system users and programmers, published from August 1982 through May 1989, totaling 56 issues, all of which are archived online and can be found using the table of links below.

Each issue of Pragma included nine recurring columns: Utilities, User Profile, Benchmarks, Wish List, Command Files, Queries, The Computer Room, Letters, and Games. A tenth Local User Groups column was added beginning with issue 4, and the User Profile column became Producer Profile in issue 5.

Most of each issue's content was devoted to seven or eight feature articles in addition to the regular columns, and were typically devoted to programming and featured source code. Some articles had installments appearing in multiple issues, such as a series describing "vanilla" programs for manufacturing companies, and a series implementing a cross-reference system for applications. A very detailed index to the first four issues appears in issue 5.

Except for letters to the editor, interviews, and two by-lined articles submitted by readers for issue 3, all Pragma content was generated by Semaphore employees. Local newspaper coverage of the first issue mentions circulation of "about 2,800". Issue 4 mentions acquiring the 6,000th name on the mailing list, issue 5 mentions the 7,000th, and issue 6 notes the 8,000th. Selected new subscribers are often listed by name and company in small ads in each issue.

After seven quarterly editions with paid subscriptions, Pragma was renamed to Pragma's Product Profiles and became a free publication typically published monthly. Issue 30 mentions Semaphore "never mailed significantly more than 4,000 copies in any of its monthly issues".

The transition from the subscriber-paid Pragma to free Pragma's Product Profiles resulted in a higher ratio of advertising to articles, and copy tended to be "news" items like press releases, vendor interviews, product reviews, hardware surveys, directories of user groups, and similar content. Eventually, in-house generated articles about programming techniques and Pick internals began reappearing, with source code snippets first showing up in issue 15.