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LDP/howto/docbook/HOWTO-INDEX/howtoChap.sgml
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@ -4830,7 +4830,7 @@ system's user authentication. </Para>
User-Group-HOWTO</ULink>,
<CiteTitle>Linux User Group HOWTO</CiteTitle>
</Para><Para>
<CiteTitle>Updated: Sep 2003</CiteTitle>.
<CiteTitle>Updated: Oct 2003</CiteTitle>.
A guide to founding, maintaining, and growing a Linux User Group. </Para>
</ListItem>

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@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ takes place in the Linux world of development. </Para>
User-Group-HOWTO</ULink>,
<CiteTitle>Linux User Group HOWTO</CiteTitle>
</Para><Para>
<CiteTitle>Updated: Sep 2003</CiteTitle>.
<CiteTitle>Updated: Oct 2003</CiteTitle>.
A guide to founding, maintaining, and growing a Linux User Group. </Para>
</ListItem>

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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
<title>Linux User Group HOWTO
<author><url name="Rick Moen" url="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com"></author>
<date>v1.6.8, 2003-09-27
<date>v1.6.9, 2003-10-10
<abstract>
The Linux User Group HOWTO is a guide to founding, maintaining, and
@ -22,21 +22,31 @@ The Linux User Group HOWTO is intended to serve as a guide to founding,
maintaining, and growing a Linux user group.
Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of Unix for personal
computers, servers, workstations, PDAs, and embedded systems. It was developed on the i386 and
now supports i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, and
Pentium IV processors, as well as IA32 clones from AMD, Cyrix, VIA, IDT,
Winchip, NexGen, Transmeta, VIA C3 Ezra "CentaurHauls", and others. It
also supports most SPARC, DEC Alpha, PowerPC/PowerMac and G3/G4/G5, and
the Motorola 68020-68040 series on Mac/Amiga/Atari ST.
computers, servers, workstations, PDAs, and embedded systems. It was
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, Motorola QUICC, ETRAX, Intel i960,
NEC V850E, MPC, MediaGX, STPC, Hitachi SH3/SH4 "SuperH",
Intel ARM/StrongARM, 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>
</itemize>
It supports as well the Hitachi H8 series, Motorola Dragonball, Motorola
ColdFire, Motorola QUICC, ETRAX, Intel i960, NEC V850E, MPC, MediaGX,
STPC, Hitachi SH3/SH4 "SuperH", Intel ARM/StrongARM, and PRISMA
embedded/microcontroller/PDA machines, as well as Cisco 2500, 3000, and
4000 series routers.
It supports MIPS, PA-RISC, AMD x86-64 "Hammer", and IA64/Itanium
minicomputers. It supports IBM S/390 and Fujitsu AP1000+ mainframes.
<sect1>Other sources of information
<p>
@ -62,7 +72,7 @@ Public Licence. Thus, source code is freely available in perpetuity to
anyone. It's maintained by a unstructured group of programmers
world-wide, under technical direction from Linus Torvalds and other key
developers. Linux as a movement has no central structure, bureaucracy,
or any entity to direct its affairs. While this situation has
or other entity to direct its affairs. While this situation has
advantages, it poses challenges for allocation of human resources,
effective advocacy, public relations, user education, and training.
@ -77,15 +87,14 @@ However, this loose structure can disorient the new Linux user: Whom
does she call for support, training, or education? How does she know
what Linux is suitable for?
In large part, LUGs provide the answers, which is why LUGs are
vital to the Linux movement: Because your town, village, or metropolis
sports no Linux Corporation "regional office", the LUG takes on
many of the same roles such an office does for a large multi-national
corporation.
In large part, LUGs provide the answers, which is why LUGs are vital to
the Linux movement: Because your town, village, or metropolis sports no
Linux Corporation "regional office", the LUG takes on many of the same
roles a regional office does for a large multi-national corporation.
Linux is unique in neither having nor being burdened by central
structures or bureaucracies to allocate its resources, train its users,
or support its products. These jobs get done through diverse means: the
and support its products. These jobs get done through diverse means: the
Internet, consultants, VARs, support companies, colleges, and
universities. However, increasingly, in many places around the globe,
they are done by a LUG.
@ -235,10 +244,11 @@ colleagues, employees, or employers.
There is effective advocacy, and there is ineffective carping: As Linux
users, we must be constantly vigilant to advocate Linux in such a way as
to reflect positively on the product, its creators and developers, and
our fellow users. The Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO, available at the Linux
Documentation Project, gives some helpful suggestions,
as does Don Marti's excellent <url name="Linuxmanship"
url="http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/"> essay.
our fellow users. The <url name="Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO"
url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Advocacy.html">, available at the
<url name="Linux Documentation Project" url="http://www.tldp.org/">,
gives some helpful suggestions, as does Don Marti's excellent
<url name="Linuxmanship" url="http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/"> essay.
Suffice it to say that advocacy is important to a LUG's mission.
A time may come when Linux advocacy is irrelevant, because Linux has
@ -267,7 +277,7 @@ place. The matter merits careful thought, to avoid wasted time or
worse.
Many attempts at advocacy fail ignominiously because the advocate fails
to listen to what the other party feels he wants or needs. (As Eric
to listen to what the other party feels she wants or needs. (As Eric
S. Raymond says, "Appeal to the prospect's interests and values, not to
yours.") If that person wants exactly the proprietary-OS setup she
already has, then advocating Linux wastes your time and hers. If her
@ -295,20 +305,22 @@ they're still interested, at least you won't face the same artificial
obstacle.
At the same time, make sure you don't live up to the stereotype of the
OS advocate, either. Just shoving your views at someone is downright
rude and offensive. Moreover, when done concerning Linux, it's
also pointless: Unlike the case with proprietary OSes, Linux will not
live or die by the level of corporate acceptance and release/maintenance
of ported applications. It and all key applications are open source:
the programmer community that maintains it is self-supporting, and would
keep it advancing and and healthy regardless of whether the business
world and general public uses it with wild abandon, only a little, or
not at all. Because of its open-source licence terms, source
code is permanently available. Linux cannot be "withdrawn from the
market" at the whim of some company. Accordingly, there is simply no
point in pesky OS advocacy -- unlike that of some communities we could
mention. (Why not just make information available for those receptive
to it, and stop there? That meets any reasonable person's needs.)
OS advocate, either. Just proclaiming your views at someone without
invitation is downright rude and offensive. Moreover, when done
concerning Linux, it's also pointless: Unlike the case with proprietary
OSes, Linux will not live or die by the level of its acceptance and
release/maintenance of ported applications. It and all key applications
are open source: the programmer community that maintains it is
self-supporting, and would keep it advancing and and healthy regardless
of whether the business world and general public uses it with wild
abandon, only a little, or not at all. Because of its open-source
licence terms, source code is permanently available. Linux cannot be
"withdrawn from the market" on account of insufficient popularity, or at
the whim of some company. Accordingly, there is simply no point in
arm-twisting OS advocacy -- unlike that of some OS-user communities we
could mention. (Why not just make information available for those
receptive to it, and stop there? That meets any reasonable person's
needs.)
Last, understand that the notion of "use value" for software is quite
foreign to most people -- the notion of measuring software's value by
@ -454,8 +466,8 @@ news and information -- about bug fixes, security problems, patches,
new kernels, etc., but new users must still be made aware of
them, and taught that the newest kernels are always
available from <url name="ftp.kernel.org" url="ftp://ftp.kernel.org">,
that the <bf>Linux Documentation Project</bf> has newer
versions of Linux HOWTOs than do CD-based Linux distributions,
that the <url name="Linux Documentation Project" url="http://www.tldp.org/">
has newer versions of Linux HOWTOs than do CD-based Linux distributions,
and so on.
Intermediate and advanced users
@ -495,7 +507,7 @@ value), <it>including what they receive for free</it>. This leads some,
especially some in the corporate world, to use (and abuse) LUG
technical support with wild abandon, while simultaneously complaining
bitterly of its inadequate detail, insufficient promptness, supposedly
unfair expectations that the user learn and not ask minor variations on
unfair expectations that the user learn and not re-ask minor variations on
the same question endlessly, etc. In other words, they treat relations
with LUG volunteers the way they would a paid support vendor, but one
they treat with <it>zero respect</it> because of its zero acquisition
@ -522,22 +534,25 @@ controversy.
Telltale signs that a questioner may need to be transitioned to consulting-based assistance include:
<itemize>
<item>An insistence on getting solutions in "recipe" (rote) form, with the apparent aim
of not needing to learn technological fundamentals.
<item>An insistence on getting solutions in "recipe" (rote) form,
with the apparent aim of not needing to learn technological
fundamentals.
<item>Asking the same questions (or ones closely related) repeatedly.
<item>Vague problem descriptions, or ones that change with time.
<item>Interrupting answers in order to ask additional questions (suggesting
lack of attention to the answers).
<item>Demands that answers be recast or delivered more quickly (suggesting
that the questioner's time and trouble but that helpers' are not).
<item>Asking unusually complex, time-consuming, and/or multipart questions.
<item>Interrupting answers in order to ask additional questions
(suggesting lack of attention to the answers).
<item>Demands that answers be recast or delivered more quickly
(suggesting that the questioner's time and trouble are
valuable, but that helpers' are not).
<item>Asking unusually complex, time-consuming, and/or multipart
questions.
</itemize>
In general, LUG members are especially delighted to help, on a volunteer basis, members
who seem likely to participate in the Linux "gift culture" by picking up its body of lore
and, in turn, perpetuate it by teaching others in their turn. Certainly, there's nothing
wrong with having other priorities and values, but such folk may in some cases be best
referred to paid assistance, as a better fit for both their needs.
referred to paid assistance, as a better fit for their needs.
An additional observation that may or may not be useful, at this point:
There are things one may be willing to do for free, to assist others in the
@ -602,7 +617,7 @@ Linux-related organisations in a financial way. With the <url
url="http://counter.li.org" name="multiple millions"> of Linux users,
it would be entirely plausible for grateful users to individually
contribute a little. Given millions of users, and the not-unreasonable
sum of a hundred dollars of "gratefulness" per Linux user (&dollar;100 being
sum of a hundred dollars of "gratitude" per Linux user (&dollar;100 being
roughly the sum <it>not</it> spent this year upgrading a Microsoft OS),
that could add up to <it>hundreds of millions</it> of dollars towards
development of improved Linux tools and applications.
@ -960,7 +975,7 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs.
<item>Determine the nearest existing LUG.</item>
<item>Announce your intentions on <tt>comp.os.linux.announce</tt> and on an appropriate regional hierarchy.</item>
<item>Announce your intention wherever computer users are in your area: bookstores, swap meets, cybercafes, colleges and universities, corporations, Internet service providers, etc.</item>
<item>Announce your intention wherever computer users are in your area: bookstores, swap meets, cybercafes, colleges corporations, Internet service providers, etc.</item>
<item>Find Linux-friendly businesses or institutions in your area willing to help you form the LUG.</item>
<item>Form a mailing list or some means of communication among the people who express an interest in forming a LUG.</item>
<item>Ask key people specifically for help in spreading the word about your intention to form a LUG.</item>
@ -981,7 +996,7 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs.
<item>Install Linux for anyone who wants it.</item>
<item>Post flyers, messages, or handbills wherever computer users are in your area.</item>
<item>Secure dedicated leadership.</item>
<item>Follow Linus's <it>benevolent dictator</it> model of leadership.</item>
<item>Follow Linus Torvalds's <it>benevolent dictator</it> model of leadership.</item>
<item>Take the big decisions to the members for a vote.</item>
<item>Start a mailing list devoted to technical support and ask the "gurus" to participate on it.</item>
<item>Schedule a mixture of advanced and basic, formal and informal, presentations.</item>
@ -992,8 +1007,8 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs.
<item>Meet in conjunction with swap meets, computer shows, or other community events where computer users -- i.e., potential Linux converts -- are likely to gather.</item>
<item>Elect formal leadership for the LUG as soon as is practical: Some helpful officers might include President, Treasurer, Secretary, Meeting Host (general announcements, speaker introductions, opening and closing remarks, etc.), Publicity Coordinator (handles Usenet and e-mail postings, local publicity), and Program Coordinator (organises and schedules speakers at LUG meetings).</item>
<item>Provide ways for members and others to give feedback about the direction, goals, and strategies of the LUG.</item>
<item>Support Linux and free software / open source development efforts by donating Web space, a mailing list, or FTP site.</item>
<item>Establish an FTP/Web site for relevant software.</item>
<item>Support Linux and free software / open source development efforts by donating Web space, a mailing list, or ftp site.</item>
<item>Establish an ftp/Web site for relevant software.</item>
<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>
@ -1009,7 +1024,7 @@ There are several organisations offering assistance to LUGs.
<item>Maintain good relations with Linux vendors, VARs, developers, etc.</item>
<item>Identify and contact Linux consultants in your area.</item>
<item>Network with the leaders of other LUGs in your area, state, region, or country to share experiences, tricks, and resources.</item>
<item>Keep LUG members advised on the state of Linux software -- new kernels, bugs, fixes, patches, security advisories -- and the state of the Linux world at large -- new ports, trademark and licensing issues, where Linus is living and working, etc.</item>
<item>Keep LUG members advised on the state of Linux software -- new kernels, bugs, fixes, patches, security advisories -- and the state of the Linux world at large -- new ports, trademark and licensing issues, where Torvalds is living and working, etc.</item>
<item>Notify the Linux Documentation Project -- and other pertinent sources of Linux information -- about the documentation the LUG produces: technical presentations, tutorials, local HOWTOs, etc.</item>
</itemize>
@ -1035,7 +1050,7 @@ Linux-oriented companies, or other friendly institutions, and can
therefore be free of charge to the public. No revenues and no expenses
means less need for organisation and concomitant hassles.
For what it's worth, this HOWTO's originator and second maintainer lean,
For whatever it's worth, this HOWTO's originator and second maintainer lean,
respectively, towards the pro and con sides of the debate -- but choose
your own poison: If interested in formally organising your LUG, this
section will introduce you to some relevant issues.
@ -1105,7 +1120,7 @@ certified charity status.
<sect2>Germany
<p>
Correspondent <htmlurl name="Thomas Kappler" url="Thomas.Kappler@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de"> warns that the process of founding a non-profit entity in Germany
is a bit complicated, but is comprehensively covered at <url
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">.
@ -1120,7 +1135,7 @@ often crop up (lightly edited and expanded by the HOWTO maintainer):
Linux users are a diverse bunch. As soon as you try to put a lot of
them together, <it>some</it> problem issues can arise. Some, who are
nearly political radicals, believe all software, always, should be
"free". Because Caldera charges quite a lot of money for their
"free". Because Caldera charges quite a lot of money for its
distribution, and doesn't give all profits over to <it>(pick favorite
advocacy organisation)</it>, it must be "evil". Ditto Red Hat or
SuSE. Keep in mind that all three of these companies have made and
@ -1189,7 +1204,7 @@ skins.
It is important to be careful with finances in any sort of non-profit.
In businesses, which focus on substantive profit, people are not
typically too worried about minor details such as alleged misspending of
immaterial sums. The same cannot be said of non-profit
<it>immaterial</it> sums. The same cannot be said of non-profit
organisations. Some people are involved for reasons of principle, and
devote inordinate attention to otherwise minor issues. LUG business
meetings' potential for wide participation correspondingly expands the
@ -1253,22 +1268,23 @@ lose them. If door-prizes and garage sales bring people in, do
door-prizes and garage sales. Participation, as much as software, is
the lifeblood of your LUG.
The reason I spoke of "key" volunteers, above, is because, inevitably, a very few
people will do almost all of the needed work. It's just the way things go, in
volunteer groups. An anecdote may help illustrate my point: Towards the end
of my long tenure as editor and typesetter of San Francisco PC User Group's
40-page monthly magazine, I was repeatedly urged to make magazine
management more "democratic". I finally replied to the club president,
"See that guy over there? That's Ed, one of my editorial staff. Ed just
proofread twelve articles for the current issue. So, I figure he gets
twelve votes." The president and other club politicos were dismayed by my
of my work-based recasting of their democratic ideals: Their notion was that each
biped should have an equal say in editorial policy, regardless of ability to
typeset or proofread, or whether they had ever done iota to assist magazine
production. Although he looked quite unhappy about doing so, the president
dropped the subject. I figured that, when it came right down to it, he'd
decide that the club needed people who got work done more than they
needed his brand of "democracy".
The reason I spoke of "key" volunteers, above, is because, inevitably, a
very few people will do almost all of the needed work. It's just the
way things go, in volunteer groups. An anecdote may help illustrate my
point: Towards the end of my long tenure as editor and typesetter of
San Francisco PC User Group's 40-page monthly magazine, I was repeatedly
urged to make magazine management more "democratic". I finally replied
to the club president, "See that guy over there? That's Ed, one of my
editorial staff. Ed just proofread twelve articles for the current
issue. So, I figure he gets twelve votes." The president and other
club politicos were dismayed by my work-based recasting of their
democratic ideals: Their notion was that each biped should have an equal
say in editorial policy, regardless of ability to typeset or proofread,
or whether they had ever done <it>anything</it> to assist magazine
production. Although he looked quite unhappy about doing so, the
president dropped the subject. I figured that, when it came right down
to it, he'd decide that the club needed people who got work done more
than they needed his brand of "democracy".
But we weren't quite done: A month or so later, I was introduced to a
"Publications Committee", who arrived with the intent of doing nothing but
@ -1279,10 +1295,10 @@ worse, though: I also assigned them work, as part of my staff. Almost
all immediately lost interest. (Bossing around other people seemed likely
to be fun; doing actual work was not.)
The point is that the widespread urge to vote on everything is at best orthogonal
to any desire to perform needed work; at worst, the former serves as an
excuse to compulsively meddle in other people's performance of the
latter.
The point is that the widespread urge to vote on everything is at best
orthogonal to any desire to perform needed work; at worst, the former
serves as an excuse to compulsively meddle in others' performance
of the latter.
To sum up: Have all the "democracy" that makes you happy, but watching after
the well-being of your key volunteers is what matters. (To quote Candide,
@ -1314,7 +1330,7 @@ url="http://www.tldp.org/COPYRIGHT.html">.
<sect1>New versions
<p>
New versions of the Linux User Group HOWTO will be periodically
uploaded to various Linux WWW and FTP sites, principally <url
uploaded to various Linux Web and ftp sites, principally <url
url="http://linuxmafia.com/lug/" name="http://linuxmafia.com/lug/"> and
the <url name="Linux Documentation Project"
url="http://www.tldp.org/">.
@ -1340,27 +1356,28 @@ things your group does meriting description here.
<item>1.4.1: General editing for clarity.</item>
<item>1.5: Added some resources, some discussion of LUG documentation, also general editing.</item>
<item>1.5.1: Changed Web location for this document and author's e-mail address.</item>
<item>1.5.2: New copyright and licence.</item>
<item>1.5.3: Miscellaneous edits and minor re-organisations</item>
<item>1.5.2: New copyright notice and licence.</item>
<item>1.5.3: Miscellaneous edits and minor re-organisations.</item>
<item>1.6: Added Chris Browne's material: Linux philanthropic
donations and LUG political considerations.</item>
<item>1.6.1: Very minor additions.</item>
<item>1.6.2: Minor corrections.</item>
<item>1.6.3: Maintenance assumed by Rick Moen: General initial touch-up,
correction of broken URLs, etc.
<item>1.6.4: Further minor fixes and additions.
correction of broken URLs, etc.</item>
<item>1.6.4: Further minor fixes and additions.</item>
<item>1.6.5: More-extensive edits, added "Limits of advocacy",
added caveat about conflicting value systems in support contexts. Added
more news sites, reordered examples of LUGs using Internet well. General
tightening of phrasing, greater brevity in places.
<item>1.6.6: More small fixes, added Yahoo LUG list.
tightening of phrasing, greater brevity in places.</item>
<item>1.6.6: More small fixes, added Yahoo LUG list.</item>
<item>1.6.7: Added formal-organisational pros/cons, "Elections,
democracy, and turnover" section, Web site suggestions, and link
to "Recipe for a Successful Linux User Group" essay. Fixed mis-tagged
sections under "Legal and political issues".
sections under "Legal and political issues".</item>
<item>1.6.8: Fixed small glitches. Rewrote section concerning
Linux news outlets; parts of sections concerning consultants, businesses,
and elections.
and elections.</item>
<item>1.6.9: Minor corrections.</item>
</itemize>