123 lines
6.2 KiB
HTML
123 lines
6.2 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="LinuxDoc-Tools 0.9.21">
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<TITLE>Linux User Group HOWTO: What is a GNU/Linux user group?</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="User-Group-HOWTO-3.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="User-Group-HOWTO-1.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2" REL=contents>
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<A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO-3.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s2">2.</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2">What is a GNU/Linux user group?</A></H2>
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<H2><A NAME="ss2.1">2.1</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2.1">What is GNU/Linux?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>To fully appreciate LUGs' role in the GNU/Linux movement, it helps to
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understand what makes GNU/Linux unique.</P>
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<P>GNU/Linux as an operating system is powerful -- but GNU/Linux as an
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<I><B>idea</B></I> about software development is even more so. GNU/Linux
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is a <B>free</B> operating system: It's licensed under the GNU General
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Public Licence. Thus, source code is freely available in perpetuity to
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anyone. It's maintained by a unstructured group of programmers
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world-wide, under technical direction from Linus Torvalds and other key
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developers. GNU/Linux as a movement has no central structure, bureaucracy,
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or other entity to direct its affairs. While this situation has
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advantages, it poses challenges for allocation of human resources,
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effective advocacy, public relations, user education, and training.</P>
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<P>(This HOWTO credits the Free Software Foundation's
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<A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html">GNU Project</A>
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as the crucial motive force behind creating and furthering a free
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aka open source integrated system. Thus, it refers to "distributions"
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comprising the GNU operating system atop the Linux kernel as "GNU/Linux".
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Yes, the term is awkward, and FSF's request for credit isn't widely
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honoured; but the justice of FSF's claim is obvious.)</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss2.2">2.2</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2.2">How is GNU/Linux unique?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>GNU/Linux's loose structure is unlikely to change. That's a good thing:
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It works precisely because people are free to come and go as they
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please: <B>Free programmers are happy programmers are effective
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programmers</B>.</P>
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<P>However, this loose structure can disorient the new user: Whom
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does she call for support, training, or education? How does she know
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what GNU/Linux is suitable for?</P>
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<P>In part, LUGs provide the answers, which is why LUGs are vital to
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the movement: Because your town, village, or metropolis sports no
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Linux Corporation "regional office", the LUG takes on many of the same
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roles a regional office does for a large multi-national corporation.</P>
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<P>GNU/Linux is unique in neither having nor being burdened by central
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structures or bureaucracies to allocate its resources, train its users,
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and support its products. These jobs get done through diverse means: the
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Internet, consultants, VARs, support companies, colleges, and
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universities. However, increasingly, in many places around the globe,
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they are done by a LUG.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss2.3">2.3</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2.3">What is a user group?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Computer user groups are not new. In
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fact, they were central to the personal computer's history:
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Microcomputers arose in large part to satisfy demand for affordable,
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personal access to computing resources from electronics, ham radio, and
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other hobbyist user groups. Giants like IBM eventually discovered the
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PC to be a good and profitable thing, but initial impetus came from the
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grassroots.</P>
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<P>In the USA, user groups have changed -- many for the worse --
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with the times. The financial woes and dissolution of the largest user
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group ever, the Boston Computer Society, were well-reported; but, all
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over the USA, most PC user groups have seen memberships decline.
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American user groups in their heyday produced newsletters, maintained
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shareware and diskette libraries, held meetings and social events, and,
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sometimes, even ran electronic bulletin board systems (BBSes). With the
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advent of the Internet, however, many services that user groups once
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provided migrated to things like CompuServe and the Web.</P>
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<P>GNU/Linux's rise, however, coincided with and was intensified by the
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general public "discovering" the Internet. As the Internet grew more
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popular, so did GNU/Linux: The Internet brought new users,
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developers, and vendors. So, the same force that sent traditional user
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groups into decline propelled GNU/Linux forward, and inspired new groups
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concerned exclusively with it. </P>
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<P>To give just one indication of how LUGs differ from traditional
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user groups: Traditional groups must closely
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monitor what software users redistribute at meetings.
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While illegal copying of restricted proprietary software certainly
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occurred, it was officially discouraged -- for good reason.
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At LUG meetings, however, that entire mindset simply does not apply:
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Far from being forbidden, unrestricted copying of GNU/Linux
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should be among a LUG's primary goals. In fact, there is anecdotal
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evidence of traditional user groups having difficulty adapting to
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GNU/Linux's ability to be lawfully copied at will.</P>
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<P>(Caveat: A few distributions bundle GNU/Linux with proprietary
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software packages whose terms don't permit public redistribution.
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Check licence terms, if in doubt. Offers or requests to copy
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distribution-restricted proprietary software of any sort should be
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heavily discouraged anywhere in LUGs, and declared off-topic for all
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GNU/Linux user group on-line forums, for legal reasons.)</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss2.4">2.4</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc2.4">Summary</A>
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</H2>
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<P>For the GNU/Linux movement to grow, among other requirements,
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LUGs must proliferate and succeed. Because of GNU/Linux's
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unusual nature, LUGs must provide some of the same functions a "regional
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office" provides for large computer corporations like IBM, Microsoft,
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and Sun. LUGs can and must train, support, and educate users,
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coordinate consultants, advocate GNU/Linux as a computing solution,
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and even serve as liaison to local news outlets.</P>
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<HR>
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