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<A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4">Contents</A>
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<H2><A NAME="s4">4.</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4">What does a LUG do?</A></H2>
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<P>LUGs' goals are as varied as their locales. There is no LUG master
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plan, nor will this document supply one. Remember: GNU/Linux is free from
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bureaucracy and centralised control; so are LUGs.</P>
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<P>It is possible, however, to identify a core set of goals for a
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LUG:</P>
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>advocacy</LI>
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<LI>education</LI>
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<LI>support</LI>
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<LI>socialising</LI>
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</UL>
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</P>
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<P>Each LUG combines these and other goals uniquely, according to its
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membership's needs.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.1">4.1</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4.1">GNU/Linux advocacy</A>
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</H2>
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<P>The urge to advocate the use of GNU/Linux is widely felt. When you find
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something that works well, you want to tell as many people as you can.
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LUGs' role in advocacy cannot be overestimated, especially since
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wide-scale commercial acceptance is only newly underway. While
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it is certainly beneficial to the movement, each and every time a
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computer journalist writes a positive review of GNU/Linux, it is also
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beneficial every time satisfied GNU/Linux users brief their friends,
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colleagues, employees, or employers.</P>
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<P>There is effective advocacy, and there is ineffective carping: As
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users, we must be constantly vigilant to advocate GNU/Linux in such a way as
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to reflect positively on the product, its creators and developers, and
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our fellow users. The
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<A HREF="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Advocacy.html">Linux Advocacy HOWTO</A>, available at the
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<A HREF="http://www.tldp.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A>,
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gives some helpful suggestions, as does Don Marti's excellent
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<A HREF="http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/">Linuxmanship</A> essay.
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Suffice it to say that advocacy is important to a LUG's mission.</P>
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<P>A time may come when advocacy is irrelevant, because GNU/Linux has
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more or less won the day, when the phrase "no one ever got fired for
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using Linux" becomes reality. Until then, LUGs play a vital role in
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promoting GNU/Linux use. They do so because their advocacy is free,
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well-intentioned, and backed up by organisational commitment. If a
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person encounters GNU/Linux through a LUG's efforts, then that new
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user's already ahead of the game: <I>She knows of an organisation that
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will help her install, configure, and even maintain GNU/Linux on whatever
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computers she's willing to dedicate to it.</I></P>
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<P>New users already in contact with a LUG are ahead
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of others whose interest in GNU/Linux has been piqued by a computer
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journalist, but who have no one to whom to turn for aid in their
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quest to install, run, and learn GNU/Linux.</P>
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<P>It is, therefore, important for LUGs to advocate GNU/Linux, because
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their advocacy is effective, well-supported, and free.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.2">4.2</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4.2">The limits of advocacy</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Advocacy can be mis-aimed; advocacy can go wrong and be
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counterproductive; advocacy can be simply inappropriate in the first
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place. The matter merits careful thought, to avoid wasted time or
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worse.</P>
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<P>Many attempts at advocacy fail ignominiously because the advocate fails
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to listen to what the other party feels she wants or needs. (As Eric
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S. Raymond
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<A HREF="http://www.itworld.com/LWD000913expo00">says</A>,
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"Appeal to the prospect's interests and values, not to
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yours.") If that person wants exactly the proprietary-OS setup she
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already has, then advocacy wastes your time and hers. If her
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stated requirements equate exactly to MS-Project, MS-Visio, and
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Outlook/Exchange groupware, then trying to "sell" her what she doesn't
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want will only annoy everyone (regardless of whether her requirements
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list is real or artificial). Save your effort for someone more
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receptive. </P>
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<P>Along those lines, bear in mind that, for many people, perhaps most, an
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"advocate" is perceived as a salesman, and thus classified as someone to
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resist rather than listen to fairly. They've never heard of someone
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urging them to adopt a piece of software without
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benefiting materially, so they assume there must be something in
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it for you and will push back, and
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act as if they're doing you a personal favour to even listen, let alone
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try your recommendations. </P>
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<P>I recommend bringing such discussions back to Earth
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immediately, by pointing out that software policy should be based in
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one's own long-term self interest, that you have zero personal stake in
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their choices, and that you have better uses for your time than speaking
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to an unreceptive audience. After that, if
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they're still interested, at least you won't face the same artificial
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obstacle.</P>
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<P>At the same time, make sure you don't live up to the stereotype of the
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OS advocate, either. Just proclaiming your views at someone without
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invitation is downright rude and offensive. Moreover, when done
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concerning GNU/Linux, it's also pointless: Unlike the case with proprietary
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OSes, our OS will not live or die by the level of its acceptance and
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release/maintenance of ported applications. It and all key applications
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are open source: the programmer community that maintains it is
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self-supporting, and would keep it advancing and and healthy regardless
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of whether the business world and general public uses it with wild
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abandon, only a little, or not at all. Because of its open-source
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licence terms, source code is permanently available. GNU/Linux cannot be
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"withdrawn from the market" on account of insufficient popularity, or at
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the whim of some company. Accordingly, there is simply no point in
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arm-twisting OS advocacy -- unlike that of some OS-user communities we
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could mention. (Why not just make information available for those
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receptive to it, and stop there? That meets any reasonable person's
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needs.)</P>
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<P>Last, understand that the notion of "use value" for software is quite
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foreign to most people -- the notion of measuring software's value by
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what you can do with it. The habit of valuing everything at
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<I>acquisition cost</I> is deeply ingrained. In 1996, I heard a young
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fellow from Caldera Systems speak at a Berkeley, California LUG about
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the origins of Caldera Network Desktop (the initial name of their GNU/Linux
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distribution) in Novell, Inc.'s "Corsair" desktop-OS project: In
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surveying corporate CEOs and CTOs, they found corporate officers to be
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inherently unhappy with anything they could get for free. So, Caldera
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offered them a solution -- by charging money.</P>
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<P>Seen from this perspective, being conservative about the costs and
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difficulties of GNU/Linux deployments helps make them positively attractive
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-- and protects your credibility as a spokesman. Even better would be
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to frame the discussion of costs in terms of the cost of functionality
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(e.g., 1000-seat Internet-capable company e-mail with offline-user
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capability and webmail) as opposed to listing software as a retail-style
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line-item with pricing: After all, any software project has costs,
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even if the acquisition price tag is zero, and the real point of open
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source isn't initial cost but rather long-term control over IT -- a key
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part of one's operations: With proprietary systems, the user (or
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business) has lost control of IT, and is on the wrong side of a monopoly
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relationship with one's vendor. With open source, the user is in
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control, and nobody can take that away. Explained that way (as
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opportunity to reduce and control IT risk), people readily understand
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the difference -- especially CEOs -- and it's much more significant over
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the long term than acquisition cost.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.3">4.3</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4.3">GNU/Linux education</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Not only is it the business of a LUG to advocate GNU/Linux usage, but
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also to train members, as well as the nearby computing public,
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to use our OS and associated components -- a goal that can make a huge
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real-world difference in one's local area. While universities and
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colleges are increasingly including GNU/Linux in their curricula, for
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sundry reasons, this won't reach some users. For those, a LUG can
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give basic or advanced help in system administration, programming,
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Internet and intranet technologies, etc.</P>
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<P>In an ironic twist, many LUGs have turned out to be a backbone of
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corporate support: Every worker expanding her computer skills through
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LUG participation is one fewer the company must train. Though home
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GNU/Linux administration doesn't exactly scale to running corporate data
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warehouses, call centres, or similar high-availability facilities, it's
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light years better preparation than MS-Windows experience. As Linux has
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advanced into journaling filesystems, high availability, real-time
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extensions, and other high-end Unix features, the already blurry line
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between GNU/Linux and "real" Unixes has been increasingly vanishing.</P>
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<P>Not only is such education a form of worker training, but it will also
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serve, as information technology becomes increasingly vital to the
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global economy, as community service: In the USA's metropolitan areas,
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for example, LUGs have taken GNU/Linux into local schools, small businesses,
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community and social organisations, and other non-corporate
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environments. This accomplishes the goal of advocacy and also
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educates the general public. As more such organisations seek Internet
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presence, provide their personnel dial-in access, or other
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GNU/Linux-relevant functions, LUGs gain opportunities for community
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participation, through awareness and education efforts -- extending to
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the community the same generous spirit characteristic of GNU/Linux and the
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free software / open source community from its very beginning. Most
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users can't program like Torvalds, but we can all give time and
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effort to other users, the GNU/Linux community, and the broader
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surrounding community.</P>
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<P>GNU/Linux is a natural fit for these organisations, because deployments
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don't commit them to expensive licence, upgrade, or maintenance fees.
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Being technically elegant and economical, it also runs very well on
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cast-off corporate hardware that non-profit organisations are only too
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happy to use: The unused Pentium II in the closet can do <B>real
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work</B>, if someone installs GNU/Linux on it.</P>
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<P>In addition, education assists other LUG goals over time, in
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particular that of support: Better education means better
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support, which in turn facilitates education, and eases the
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community's growth. Thus, education forms the entire effort's keystone:
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If only two or three percent of a LUG assume the remainder's support
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burden, that LUG's growth will be stifled. One thing you can count on:
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<B><I>If new and inexperienced users don't get needed help
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from their LUG, they won't participate there for long</I></B>.
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If a larger percentage of members support the rest, the LUG will not
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face that limitation. education -- and, equally, support for
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allied projects such as the Apache Web server, X.org, Freedesktop.org,
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TeX, LaTeX, etc. -- is key to this dynamic: Education turns new users into
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experienced ones.</P>
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<P>Finally, GNU/Linux is a self-documenting operating environment: In other words,
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writing and publicising our community's documentation is up to us.
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Therefore, make sure LUG members know of the
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<A HREF="http://www.tldp.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A> and its worldwide
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mirrors. Consider operating an LDP mirror site. Also, make sure to
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publicise -- through <CODE>comp.os.linux.announce</CODE>, the LDP, and other
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pertinent sources of information -- any relevant documentation
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the LUG develops: technical presentations, tutorials, local FAQs, etc.
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LUGs' documentation often fails to benefit the worldwide
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community for no better reason than not notifying the outside world.
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Don't let that happen: It is highly probable that if someone at one LUG
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had a question or problem with something, then others elsewhere
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will have it, too.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.4">4.4</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4.4">GNU/Linux support</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Of course, for the <B>newcomer</B>, the primary role of a
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LUG is GNU/Linux support -- but it is a mistake to suppose that
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support means only <I>technical</I> support for new users. It
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should mean much more.</P>
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<P>LUGs have the opportunity to support:</P>
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>users</LI>
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<LI>consultants</LI>
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<LI>businesses, non-profit organisations, and schools</LI>
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<LI>the GNU/Linux movement</LI>
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</UL>
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</P>
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<H3>Users</H3>
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<P>New users' most frequent complaint, once they have GNU/Linux
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installed, is the steep learning curve characteristic of all modern
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Unixes. With that learning curve, however, comes the power and
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flexibility of a real operating system. A LUG is often the a new
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user's main resource to flatten the learning curve.</P>
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<P>During GNU/Linux's first decade, it gained some first-class journalistic
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resources, which should not be neglected: The main monthly magazines
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of longest standing are <I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/">Linux Journal</A></I> and <I>
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<A HREF="http://linuxgazette.net/">Linux Gazette</A></I>. More recently,
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they've been joined by
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxfocus.org/">LinuxFocus</A></I> and the
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://new.linuxfocus.org/cms/">New LinuxFocus</A></I> (on-line),
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxformat.com">Linux Format</A></I>,
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/">LinuxUser and Developer</A></I>,
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linux-magazine.com/">Linux Magazine</A></I>, and
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxforu.com/">LINUX For You</A></I>.</P>
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<P>Standout on-line magazines and news sites with weekly or better publication
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cycles include <I>
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<A HREF="http://lwn.net/">Linux Weekly News</A></I>,
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php">DistroWatch Weekly</A></I>,
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<I>
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<A HREF="http://linuxtoday.com">Linux Today</A></I>, and
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<A HREF="http://www.freshnews.org/">FreshNews</A>.</P>
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<P>All of these resources have eased LUGs' job of spreading essential
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news and information -- about bug fixes, security problems, patches,
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new kernels, etc., but new users must still be made aware of
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them, and taught that the newest kernels are always
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available from
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.kernel.org">ftp.kernel.org</A>,
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that the
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<A HREF="http://www.tldp.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A>
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has newer versions of Linux HOWTOs than do CD-based GNU/Linux distributions,
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and so on.</P>
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<P>Intermediate and advanced users
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also benefit from proliferation of timely and useful tips, facts,
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and secrets. Because of the GNU/Linux world's manifold aspects, even
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advanced users often learn new tricks or techniques simply by
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participating in a LUG. Sometimes, they learn of software packages
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they didn't know existed; sometimes, they just remember arcane
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<CODE>vi</CODE> command sequences they've not used since college.</P>
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<H3>Consultants</H3>
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<P>LUGs can help consultants find their customers and vice-versa,
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by providing a forum where they can come together.
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Consultants also aid LUGs by providing experienced leadership.
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New and inexperienced users gain benefit from both LUGs and
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consultants, since their routine or simple requests for support are
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handled by LUGs <I>gratis</I>, while their complex needs and problems --
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the kind requiring paid services -- can be fielded by consultants found
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through the LUG.</P>
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<P>The line between support requests needing a consultant and those
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that don't is sometimes indistinct; but, in most cases, the difference
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is clear. While a LUG doesn't want to gain the reputation for
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pawning new users off unnecessarily on consultants -- as this is simply
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rude and very anti-GNU/Linux behaviour -- there is no reason for LUGs not to
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help broker contacts between users needing consulting services and
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professionals offering them.</P>
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<P>Caveat: While "the difference is clear" to intelligent people of goodwill,
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the Inevitable Ones are <I>also</I> always with us, who act willfully
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dense about the limits of free support when they have pushed those
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limits too far. Remember, too, my earlier point about the vast majority
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of the population valuing everything at acquisition cost (instead of use
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value), <I>including what they receive for free</I>. This leads some,
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especially some in the corporate world, to use (and abuse) LUG
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technical support with wild abandon, while simultaneously complaining
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bitterly of its inadequate detail, insufficient promptness, supposedly
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unfair expectations that the user learn and not re-ask minor variations on
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the same question endlessly, etc. In other words, they treat relations
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with LUG volunteers the way they would a paid support vendor, but one
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they treat with <I>zero respect</I> because of its zero acquisition
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cost.</P>
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<P>In the consulting world, there's a saying about applying "invoice therapy"
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to such behaviour: Because of the value system alluded to above, if
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your consulting advice is poorly heeded and poorly used, it just might
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be the case that you need to charge more. By contrast, the technical
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community has often been characterised as a "gift culture", with a
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radically different value system: Members gain status through enhanced
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reputation among peers, which in turn they improve through visible
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participation: code, documentation, technical assistance to the public,
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etc.</P>
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<P>Clash between the two very different value-based cultures is inevitable
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and can become a bit ugly. LUG activists should be prepared to intercede
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before the ingrate newcomer is handed her head on a platter, and
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politely suggest that her needs would be better served by paid
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(consultant-based) services. There will always be judgement calls;
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the borderline is inherently debatable and a likely source of
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controversy.</P>
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<P>Telltale signs that a questioner may need to be transitioned to consulting-based assistance include:</P>
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>An insistence on getting solutions in "recipe" (rote) form,
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with the apparent aim of not needing to learn technological
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fundamentals.</LI>
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<LI>Asking the same questions (or ones closely related) repeatedly.</LI>
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<LI>Insisting on <I>private</I> assistance from helpers active in
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<I>public</I> (GNU/Linux community) forums.</LI>
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<LI>Vague problem descriptions, or ones that change with time.</LI>
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<LI>Interrupting answers in order to ask additional questions
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(suggesting lack of attention to the answers).</LI>
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<LI>Demands that answers be recast or delivered more quickly
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(suggesting that the questioner's time and trouble are
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valuable, but that helpers' are not).</LI>
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<LI>Asking unusually complex, time-consuming, and/or multipart
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questions.</LI>
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</UL>
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</P>
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<P>In general, LUG members are especially delighted to help, on a volunteer
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basis, members who seem likely to participate in the "gift
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culture" by picking up its body of lore and, in turn, perpetuating it
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by teaching others in their turn. Certainly, there's nothing wrong with
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having other priorities and values, but such folk may in some cases be
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best referred to paid assistance, as a better fit for their needs.</P>
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<P>An additional observation that may or may not be useful, at this point:
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There are things one may be willing to do for free, to assist others in the
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community, that one will refuse to do for money: Shifting from
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assisting someone as a volunteer fundamentally changes the relationship.
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A fellow computerist who suddenly becomes a customer is a very different
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person; one's responsibilities are quite different, and greater. You're
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advised to be aware, if not wary, of this distinction.</P>
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<P>Please see Joshua Drake's
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<A HREF="http://www.commandprompt.com/community/consultants/guide/">Linux Consultants Guide</A> for an
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international list of GNU/Linux consultants.</P>
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<H3>Businesses, non-profit organisations, and schools</H3>
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<P>LUGs also have the opportunity to support local businesses and
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organisations. This support has two aspects: First, LUGs can support
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businesses and organisations wanting to use our OS (and its
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applications) as a part of their
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computing and IT efforts. Second, LUGs can support local businesses
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and organisations developing software for GNU/Linux, cater to users,
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support or install distributions, etc.</P>
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<P>The support LUGs can provide to local businesses wanting to use GNU/Linux as
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a part of their computing operations differs little from the help LUGs
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give individuals trying GNU/Linux at home. For example, compiling the Linux
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kernel doesn't really differ. Supporting businesses, however, may
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require supporting proprietary software -- e.g., the Oracle, Sybase,
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and DB2 databases (or VMware, Win4Lin, and such things).
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Some LUG expertise in these areas may help businesses make the leap
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into GNU/Linux deployments.</P>
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<P>This leads us directly to the second kind of support a LUG can give to
|
|
local businesses: LUGs can serve as a clearinghouse for information
|
|
available in few other places. For example:</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>Which local ISP is Linux-friendly?</LI>
|
|
<LI>Are there any local hardware vendors building Linux PCs?</LI>
|
|
<LI>Does anyone sell Linux CDs locally?</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>Maintaining and making this kind of information public not only helps
|
|
the LUG members, but also helps friendly businesses and encourages
|
|
them to continue to be GNU/Linux-friendly. It may even, in some cases, help
|
|
further a competitive environment in which other businesses are
|
|
encouraged to follow suit.</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Free / open-source software development</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>Finally, LUGs may also support the movement by soliciting and
|
|
organising charitable giving.
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:%20cbbrowne@cbbrowne.com%20">Chris Browne</A> has thought about this issue as much as
|
|
anyone I know, and he contributes the following:</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Chris Browne on free software / open source philanthropy</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
A further involvement can be to encourage sponsorship of various
|
|
GNU/Linux-related organisations in a financial way. With the
|
|
<A HREF="http://linuxcounter.net/">multiple millions</A> of 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 "gratitude" per user ($100 being
|
|
roughly the sum <I>not</I> spent this year upgrading a Microsoft OS),
|
|
that could add up to <I>hundreds of millions</I> of dollars towards
|
|
development of improved GNU/Linux tools and applications.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
A user group can encourage members to contribute to various
|
|
"development projects". Having some form of "charitable tax exemption"
|
|
status can encourage members to contribute directly to the group,
|
|
getting tax deductions as appropriate, with contributions flowing on to
|
|
other organisations.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
It is appropriate, in any case, to encourage LUG members to direct
|
|
contributions to organisations with projects and goals they
|
|
individually wish to support.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
This section lists possible candidates. None is being explicitly
|
|
recommended here, but the list represents useful food for
|
|
thought. Many are registered as charities in the USA, thus
|
|
making US contributions tax-deductible.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>Here are organisations with activities particularly directed towards
|
|
development of software working with GNU/Linux:</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about">The Linux Foundation</A></LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/donations.html">Debian / Software In the Public Interest</A></LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="https://my.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom">Free Software Foundation</A> </LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.kde.org/community/donations/">KDE Project</A></LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.gnome.org/friends/">GNOME Foundation</A></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>Contributions to these organisations have the direct effect of
|
|
supporting creation of freely redistributable software usable with
|
|
GNU/Linux. Dollar for dollar, such contributions almost certainly yield
|
|
greater benefit to the community than any other kind of spending.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
There are also organisations less directly associated with GNU/Linux, that
|
|
may nonetheless be worthy of assistance, such as:</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>The
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>Based in San Francisco, EFF is a donor-supported membership organization
|
|
working to protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology; to
|
|
educate the press, policy-makers, and the general public about civil
|
|
liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of
|
|
those liberties. Among our various activities, EFF opposes misguided
|
|
legislation, initiates and defends court cases preserving individuals'
|
|
rights, launches global public campaigns, introduces leading edge
|
|
proposals and papers, hosts frequent educational events, engages the
|
|
press regularly, and publishes a comprehensive archive of digital civil
|
|
liberties information at one of the most linked-to Web sites in the
|
|
world.</P>
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>The LaTeX3 Project Fund
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.tug.org/">TeX Users Group (TUG)</A> is
|
|
working on the "next generation" version of the LaTeX publishing
|
|
system, known as LaTeX3. GNU/Linux is one of the platforms on which TeX
|
|
and LaTeX are best supported.</P>
|
|
<P> Donations for the project can be sent to:
|
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
TeX Users Group
|
|
c/o Robin Laakso, executive director
|
|
TeX Users Group
|
|
PO Box 2311
|
|
Portland, OR 97208-2311
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>Alternatively, donations can be made
|
|
<A HREF="https://www.tug.org/donate.html">online</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>Project Gutenberg's purpose is to make freely available in electronic
|
|
form the texts of public-domain books. This isn't directly a "Linux
|
|
thing", but seems fairly worthy, and they actively encourage platform
|
|
independence, which means their "products" are quite usable with GNU/Linux.</P>
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://runeberg.org/">Project Runeberg</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>Project Runeberg is similar to Project Gutenberg, except concentrating
|
|
on making editions of classic Nordic (Scandinavian) literature openly
|
|
available over the Internet.</P>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.osef.org/donations.html">Open Source Education Foundation</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>The Open Source Education Foundation's purpose to enhance K-12 education
|
|
through the use of technologies and concepts derived from The Open
|
|
Source and Free Software movement. In conjunction with Tux4Kids, OSEF
|
|
created a bootable distribution of GNU/Linux (Knoppix for Kids) based
|
|
on Klaus Knopper's Knoppix, aimed at kids, parents, teachers, and
|
|
other school officials. OSEF installs and supports school computer labs,
|
|
and has developed a "K12 Box" as a compact Plug and Play workstation
|
|
computer for student computer labs.</P>
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.osafoundation.org/donations.htm">Open Source Applications Foundation</A>
|
|
|
|
<P>OSAF is Mitch Kapor's non-profit foundation to create and popularise
|
|
open-source application software of uncompromising quality, starting
|
|
with its pioneering personal information manager, Chandler.</P>
|
|
|
|
</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>(Please note that suggested additions to the above list of GNU/Linux-relevant
|
|
charities are most welcome.)</P>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H3>Linux movement</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>I have referred throughout this HOWTO to what I call the <B>GNU/Linux
|
|
movement</B>. There really is no better way to describe the
|
|
international GNU/Linux phenomenon: It isn't a bureaucracy, but is
|
|
organised. It isn't a corporation, but is important to businesses
|
|
everywhere. The best way for a LUG to support the international GNU/Linux
|
|
movement is to keep the local community robust, vibrant, and
|
|
growing. GNU/Linux is <I>developed</I> internationally, which is easy
|
|
enough to see by reading the kernel source code's
|
|
MAINTAINERS file -- but
|
|
GNU/Linux is also <I>used</I> internationally. This ever-expanding
|
|
user base is key to GNU/Linux's continued success, and is where the LUGs
|
|
are vital.</P>
|
|
<P>The movement's strength internationally lies in offering
|
|
unprecedented computing power and sophistication for its cost and
|
|
freedom. The keys are value and independence from proprietary control.
|
|
Every time a new person, group, business, or organisation experiences
|
|
GNU/Linux's inherent value, the movement grows. LUGs help that
|
|
happen.</P>
|
|
|
|
<H2><A NAME="ss4.5">4.5</A> <A HREF="User-Group-HOWTO.html#toc4.5">Linux socialising</A>
|
|
</H2>
|
|
|
|
<P>The last goal of a LUG we'll cover is socialising -- in some ways,
|
|
the most difficult goal to discuss, because it isn't clear how
|
|
many or to what degree LUGs do it. While it would be strange to
|
|
have a LUG that didn't engage in the other goals, there may be
|
|
LUGs for which socialising isn't a factor.</P>
|
|
<P>It seems, however, that whenever two or three GNU/Linux users get together,
|
|
fun, hijinks, and, often, beer follow. Linus Tovalds has
|
|
always had one enduring goal for Linux: to have more fun. For hackers,
|
|
kernel developers, and GNU/Linux users, there's nothing quite like
|
|
downloading a new kernel, recompiling an old one, fooling with a
|
|
window manager, or hacking some code. GNU/Linux's sheer fun keeps many
|
|
LUGs together, and leads LUGs naturally to socialising.</P>
|
|
<P>By "socialising", here I mean primarily sharing experiences, forming
|
|
friendships, and mutually-shared admiration and respect. There is
|
|
another meaning, however -- one social scientists call
|
|
<I>acculturation</I>. In any movement, institution, or human
|
|
community, there is the need for some process or pattern of events in
|
|
and by which, to put it in GNU/Linux terms, newcomers are turned into
|
|
hackers. In other words, acculturation turns you from "one of them" to
|
|
"one of us".</P>
|
|
<P>It is important that new users come to learn GNU/Linux culture,
|
|
concepts, traditions, and vocabulary. GNU/Linux acculturation, unlike "real
|
|
world" acculturation, can occur on mailing lists and Usenet, although
|
|
the latter's efficacy is challenged by poorly acculturated users and by
|
|
spam. LUGs are often much more efficient at this task than are mailing
|
|
lists or newsgroups, precisely because of the former's greater interactivity
|
|
and personal focus.</P>
|
|
|
|
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