diff --git a/LDP/howto/linuxdoc/User-Group-HOWTO.sgml b/LDP/howto/linuxdoc/User-Group-HOWTO.sgml index 8cb2daaa..893ceca5 100644 --- a/LDP/howto/linuxdoc/User-Group-HOWTO.sgml +++ b/LDP/howto/linuxdoc/User-Group-HOWTO.sgml @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Linux User Group HOWTO <author><url name="Rick Moen" url="mailto:%20rick@linuxmafia.com%20"></author> -<date>v1.7.1, 2003-10-14 +<date>v1.7.2, 2003-10-22 <abstract> The Linux User Group HOWTO is a guide to founding, maintaining, and @@ -27,29 +27,105 @@ developed on the i386 and now supports a huge range of processors from tiny to colossal: <itemize> - <item><bf>PDA/embedded/router:</bf> Hitachi H8 series, Motorola - Dragonball, Motorola ColdFire family, Motorola QUICC, - Motorola MPC family, Axis Communications ETRAX, Intel i960, - NEC V850E, NEC VR series, MediaGX, STPC, Hitachi SH3/SH4 - "SuperH", Intel ARM/StrongARM, Intel Xscale family, AMD - Elan SC520 and SC300, ZF Micro ZFx86, Samsung ARM7, Toshiba - TMPR3912AU, Cirrus EP7211, and PRISMA - embedded/microcontroller/PDA machines, as well as Cisco 2500, - 3000, and 4000 series routers.</item> - <item><bf>IA32:</bf> i386, i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, - Pentium III, Xeon, and Pentium IV processors, as well as - IA32 clones from AMD, Cyrix, VIA, IDT, Winchip, NexGen, - Transmeta, VIA C3 Ezra "CentaurHauls", and others.</item> - <item><bf>Other micro:</bf> Most PowerPC/PowerMac and G3/G4/G5, and - the Motorola 68020-68040 series on Mac/Amiga/Atari ST.</item> - <item><bf>IA64 and similar:</bf> AMD x86-64 "Hammer" family (including - AMD Opteron), and Intel IA64/Itanium/Itanium2.</item> - <item><bf>RISC workstations:</bf> Most MIPS, DEC Alpha, PA-RISC, and - SPARC.</item> - <item><bf>Mainframes:</bf> IBM S/390 and Fujitsu AP1000+.</item> + <item><bf>Diverse <url name="PDA/embedded/microcontroller/router" + url="http://www.uclinux.org/ports/"> devices:</bf> + <url name="Hitachi H8 series" + url="http://www.uclinux.org/pub/uClinux/ports/h8/">, + <url name="Motorola Dragonball" + url="http://www.linuxdevices.com/products/PD5338609592.html">, + <url name="Motorola ColdFire family" + url="http://www.uclinux.org/ports/coldfire/">, + <url name="Motorola mc68360 QUICC" + url="http://www.uclinux.org/pub/uClinux/ports/mc68360/README.html">, + <url name="Axis Communications ETRAX" + url="http://developer.axis.com/software/">, + Intel i960, + <url name="NEC V850E" + url="http://www.ee.nec.de/_uclinux/">, + <url name="NEC VR series (MIPS)" + url="http://www.linux-vr.org/">, + Cyrix MediaGX (x86 core), + <url name="STMicroelectronics STPC (x86 core)" + url="http://www.stmcu.com/forums-cat-132-6.html">, + ZF Micro ZFx86 (x86 core), + Hitachi SH3/SH4 (SuperH: + <url name="link1" url="http://www.superhlinux.com/"> + <url name="link2" url="http://linuxsh.sourceforge.net/">), + <url name="Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. ARM family" + url="http://www.arm.uk.linux.org/"> + (StrongARM, XScale, ARM6, ARM7, ARM2, ARM250, ARM3i, ARM610, + ARM710, ARM720T, ARM920T), + Elan SC520 and SC300, + Toshiba TMPR3912AU (MIPS), + <url name="embedded Motorola PowerPC (including MPC family)" + url="http://penguinppc.org/embedded/hardware/">, + Motorola 68020-68040 -based VME boards and + <url name="ISICAD Prisma" + url="http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/way/fr30/"> machines, + as well as Cisco 2500, 3000, and 4000 series routers.</item> + <item><bf>IA32 family:</bf> i386, i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, + Pentium II, Pentium III, Xeon, and Pentium IV processors, + as well as IA32 clones from AMD, Cyrix, VIA, IDT, Winchip, + NexGen, Transmeta, VIA C3 Ezra "CentaurHauls", and others.</item> + <item><bf>Motorola/IBM <url name="PowerPC family" + url="http://linuxppc64.org/">:</bf> Most + <url name="PowerMac (including G3/G4/G5)" + url="http://penguinppc.org/dev/pmac/"> / + <url name="CHRP" url="http://penguinppc.org/dev/chrp/"> / + <url name="PReP" url="http://penguinppc.org/dev/prep/"> / + <url name="POP" url="http://penguinppc.org/dev/pop/">, + <url name="PowerUP Amiga" + url="http://linux-apus.sourceforge.net/">, + and <url name="IBM PPC64 (AS/400, RS/6000" + url="http://linuxppc64.org/">).</item> + <item><bf>Digital <url name="VAX minicomputers and MicroVAXen" + url="http://linux-vax.sourceforge.net/"></bf>.</item> + <item><bf>Intel <url name="8086/80286" + url="http://elks.sourceforge.net/"></bf>.</item> + <item><bf>Motorola <url name="68020-68040 series" + url="http://www.linux-m68k.org/"></bf>: + <url name="m68k Mac" url="http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/">, + Amiga, Atari ST/TT/Medusa/Falcon, HP/Apollo Domain, + <url name="HP9000/300" + url="http://www.tazenda.demon.co.uk/phil/linux-hp/">, + <url name="sun3" url="http://sun3.sammy.net/sun3/">, and + <url name="Sinclair Q40" + url="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/2602/q40.html">. + </item> + <item><bf>IA64 and similar:</bf> + <url name="AMD x86-64 Hammer family" + url="http://www.x86-64.org/downloads"> (including + AMD Opteron), and + <url name="Intel/HP IA64/Trillian/Itanium/Itanium2" + url="http://www.linuxia64.org/">.</item> + <item><bf>Other RISC workstations:</bf> Most + <url name="MIPS" url="http://www.linux-mips.org/"> + (SGI, Cobalt Qube, + <url name="DECStation" url="http://decstation.unix-ag.org/">, + <url name="Sony PlayStation2" + url="http://playstation2-linux.com/">), + <url name="DEC Alpha" url="http://www.alphalinux.org/">, + <url name="PA-RISC" url="http://www.parisc-linux.org/">, and + <url name="SPARC32 / SPARC64" url="http://www.ultralinux.org/">. + </item> + <item><bf>Mainframes:</bf> <url name="IBM S/390 / zSeries" + url="http://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux390/index.shtml"> and <url name="Fujitsu AP1000+ (SuperSPARC cluster)" url="http://cap.anu.edu.au/cap/projects/linux/">.</item> </itemize> +Note that some items listed were probably one-time forks, little or not +at all maintained since creation. On some of the rarer architectures, +<url name="NetBSD" url="http://www.netbsd.org/"> may be more practical. +If seriously interested in the subject of Linux ports, please see also +<url name="Xose Vazquez Perez's Linux ports page" +url="http://www.cyut.edu.tw/~ckhung/l/linux_ports.html">, if only because +hardware support is more complex than just generic CPU functionality, +encompassing support for myriad bus variations and other subtle hardware +issues (especially for +<url name="Linux PDA/embedded/microcontroller/router ports" +url="http://www.linuxdevices.com/">). +The above list aims mostly to generally illustrate the breadth of +Linux's reach. <sect1>Other sources of information <p> @@ -142,7 +218,10 @@ Linux's ability to be lawfully copied at will. (Caveat: A few Linux distributions bundle Linux with proprietary software packages whose terms don't permit public redistribution. -Check licence terms, if in doubt.) +Check licence terms, if in doubt. Offers or requests to copy +distribution-restricted proprietary software of any sort should be +heavily discouraged anywhere in LUGs, and declared off-topic for all +Linux user group on-line forums, for legal reasons.) <sect1>Summary <p> @@ -169,8 +248,9 @@ rather than founding one.</it> As of mid-2003, there are LUGs in all 50 US states plus the District of Columbia, nine of Canada's ten provinces, all six of Australia's states -plus the Australian Capital Territory, and over 100 other countries, -including India, Russia, China, and most of Western and Eastern Europe. +plus the Australian Capital Territory, in 76 locations in India, and +over 100 other countries, including Russia, China, and most of Western +and Eastern Europe. <itemize> <item><url name="Groups of Linux Users Everywhere (GLUE)" url="http://www.ssc.com:8080/glue/groups/"></item> @@ -182,6 +262,7 @@ including India, Russia, China, and most of Western and Eastern Europe. <item><url name="LUG Webring" url="http://nlug.org/webring/"></item> <item><url name="CLUE: the Canadian Linux Users' Exchange" url="http://www.linux.ca/"></item> <item><url name="Linux Australia" url="http://www.linux.org.au/"></item> + <item><url name="LUGs in India" url="http://nt.linuxforu.com/lfyusergroup/lfyusergroup.asp"></item> </itemize> <p> @@ -456,7 +537,8 @@ url="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"> and <url name="Linux Gazette" url="http://www.linuxgazette.com/"> (on-line). More recently, they've been joined by <url name="Linux Format" url="http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/">, <url name="LinuxUser and Developer" url="http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/">, -and <url name="Linux Magazine" url="http://linux-magazine.com/">. +<url name="Linux Magazine" url="http://linux-magazine.com/">, +and <url name="Linux For You" url="http://www.linuxforu.com/">. Standout on-line magazines with weekly or better publication cycles include <url name="Linux Weekly News" url="http://lwn.net/">, @@ -1017,7 +1099,7 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs. <item>Archive everything the LUG does for the Web site.</item> <item>Solicit "door prizes" from Linux vendors, VARs, etc. to give away at meetings.</item> <item>Give credit where due.</item> - <item>Join SSC's GLUE (Groups of Linux Users Everywhere), but be aware they charge a membership fee.</item> + <item>Join SSC's GLUE (Groups of Linux Users Everywhere).</item> <item>Submit your LUG's information to all the LUG lists.</item> <item>Publicise your meetings on appropriate Usenet groups and in local computer publications and newspapers.</item> <item>Compose promotional materials, like Postscript files, for instance, members can use to help publicise the LUG at workplaces, bookstores, computer stores, etc.</item> @@ -1036,7 +1118,7 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs. <sect>Legal and political issues <p> -<sect1>Legal issues +<sect1>Organisational legal issues <p> The case for formal LUG organisation can be debated: @@ -1128,6 +1210,28 @@ Correspondent <htmlurl name="Thomas Kappler" url="Thomas.Kappler@stud.uni-karlsr is a bit complicated, but comprehensively covered at <url name="http://www.wegweiser-buergergesellschaft.de/praxishilfen/arbeit_im_verein/vereinsrecht/vereinsgruendung_1.php" url="http://www.wegweiser-buergergesellschaft.de/praxishilfen/arbeit_im_verein/vereinsrecht/vereinsgruendung_1.php">. +<sect1>Other legal issues +<p> + +<sect2>Bootlegging +<p> +As a reminder, it's vital that offers or requests to copy +distribution-restricted proprietary software of any sort be heavily +discouraged anywhere in LUGs, and banned as off-topic from all Linux user +group on-line forums. This is not generally even an issue -- much less +so than among proprietary-OS users -- but (e.g.) one LUG of my +acquaintance briefly used a single LUG-owned copy of PowerQuest's +Partition Magic on all NTFS-formatted machines brought to its +installfests for dual-boot Linux installation, on a very dubious theory +of legality. + +If it smells unlawful, it almost certainly is. Beware. + +<sect2>Antitrust +<p> +It's healthy to discuss the Linux consulting business in general in user +group forums, but for antitrst legal reasons it's a bad idea to get into +"How much do you charge to do [foo]" discussions, there. <sect1>Software politics <p> @@ -1386,6 +1490,7 @@ and elections.</item> <item>1.7.0: Caught up with GLUE membership having become free of charge.</item> <item>1.7.1: Added a bunch more newly supported embedded CPUs.</item> + <item>1.7.2: Added more on processor support; furnished matching URLs. Added details about Linux in India, and Linux For You magazine. Expanded legal issues section.</item> </itemize>