2053 lines
85 KiB
Plaintext
2053 lines
85 KiB
Plaintext
Linux User Group HOWTO
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Rick Moen <mailto:%20rick@linuxmafia.com%20>
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v1.8.4, 2013-07-25
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The Linux User Group HOWTO is a guide to founding, maintaining, and
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growing a GNU/Linux user group, co-authored by Kendall Clark and Rick
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Moen (now maintained by Rick Moen).
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______________________________________________________________________
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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
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1.1 Purpose
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1.2 Other sources of information
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2. What is a GNU/Linux user group?
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2.1 What is GNU/Linux?
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2.2 How is GNU/Linux unique?
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2.3 What is a user group?
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2.4 Summary
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3. What LUGs exist?
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3.1 LUG lists
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3.2 Solidarity versus convenience
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4. What does a LUG do?
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4.1 GNU/Linux advocacy
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4.2 The limits of advocacy
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4.3 GNU/Linux education
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4.4 GNU/Linux support
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4.4.1 Users
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4.4.2 Consultants
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4.4.3 Businesses, non-profit organisations, and schools
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4.4.4 Free / open-source software development
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4.4.4.1 Chris Browne on free software / open source philanthropy
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4.4.5 Linux movement
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4.5 Linux socialising
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5. LUG activities
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5.1 Meetings
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5.2 Online resources
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6. Practical suggestions
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6.1 LUG support organisations
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6.2 Founding a LUG
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6.3 Maintaining and growing a LUG
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7. Legal and political issues
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7.1 Organisational legal issues
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7.1.1 Canada
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7.1.2 Germany
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7.1.3 Sweden
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7.1.4 United States of America
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7.2 Other legal issues
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7.2.1 Bootlegging
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7.2.2 Antitrust
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7.3 Software politics
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7.3.1 People have different feelings about free / open-source software
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7.3.2 Non-profit organisations and money don't mix terribly well.
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7.4 Elections, democracy, and turnover
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8. About this document
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8.1 Terms of use
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8.2 New versions
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8.3 Please contribute to this HOWTO
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8.4 Document history
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8.5 Acknowledgements
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______________________________________________________________________
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1. Introduction
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1.1. Purpose
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The Linux User Group HOWTO is intended to serve as a guide to
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founding, maintaining, and growing a GNU/Linux user group.
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GNU/Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of Unix for
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personal computers, servers, workstations, PDAs, and embedded systems.
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It was developed on the i386 and now supports a huge range of
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processors from tiny to colossal:
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· Diverse PDA / embedded / microcontroller / router
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<http://www.uclinux.org/ports/> devices:
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· Advanced RISC Machines, Ltd. ARM <http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/>
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family (StrongARM SA-1110, XScale, ARM6, ARM7, ARM2, ARM250,
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ARM3i, ARM610, ARM710, ARM7TDMI, ARM720T, and ARM920T, including
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Sigma Designs DVD systems using ARM cores)
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· Analog Devices, Inc.'s Blackfin DSP
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<http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Another-nativeDSP-
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Linux-port-this-one-to-ADIs-Blackfin/>
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· Axis Communications ETRAX series
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETRAX_CRIS> ("CRIS" = Code
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Reduced Instruction Set RISC architecture)
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· Elan SC520 and SC300
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· FreeScale MC68EN302
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<http://www.freescale.com/files/netcomm/doc/data_sheet/MC68EN302.pdf>
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· Fujitsu FR-V <http://ecos.sourceware.org/hardware.html#FR-V>
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· Hitachi H8 <http://www.uclinux.org/pub/uClinux/ports/h8/> series
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· Intel i960
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· Intel IA32-compatibles (Cyrix MediaGX, STMicroelectronics STPC
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<http://web.archive.org/web/20070626190436/http://www.stmcu.com/forums-
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cat-132-6.html>, ZF Micro ZFx86)
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· Matsushita AM3x
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<http://ecos.sourceware.org/hardware.html#Matsushita%20AM3x>
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· MIPS-compatibles (Toshiba TMPRxxxx / TXnnnn, NEC VR
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<http://www.linux-mips.org/wiki/NEC_VR4100> series, Realtek
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8181">)
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· Motorola 680x0-based machines (Motorola VMEbus boards, ISICAD
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Prisma <http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/way/fr30/> machines, and
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Motorola Dragonball & ColdFire
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<http://www.uclinux.org/ports/coldfire/> CPUs, and Cisco
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2500/3000/4000 series routers)
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· Motorola embedded PowerPC <http://penguinppc.org/embedded/>
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(including MPC / PowerQUICC I, II, III families)
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· NEC V850E <http://ecos.sourceware.org/tools/linux-v850-elf.html>
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· Renesas Technology (formerly Hitachi) SH3/SH4 (SuperH
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<http://wiki.debian.org/SH4>)
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· Samsung CalmRISC
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<http://ecos.sourceware.org/hardware.html#CalmRISC>
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· Texas Instruments's DM64x
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<http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Worlds-first-nativeDSP-
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Linux-port/> and C54x DSP
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<http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Embedded-Linux-distro-
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supports-TI-DSPbased-digital-media-processors/> families
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· Xilinx PetaLinux <http://www.xilinx.com/tools/petalinux-sdk.htm>
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(formerly SoftBlaze, formerly Microblaze) soft processor
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implemented on Xilinx FPGAs
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· Intel 8086 / 80286 <http://elks.sourceforge.net/>.
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· Intel IA32 family: i386, i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II,
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Pentium III, Celeron, Xeon, and Pentium IV processors, as well as
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IA32 clones from AMD (386DX/DXL/SL/SLC/SX,
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486DX/DX2/DX4/SL/SLC/SLC2/SLC3/SX/SX2, Elan, K5, K6/K6-II/K6-III),
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Cyrix (386DX/DXL/SL/SLC/SX,
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486DLC/DLC2/DX/DX2/DX4/SL/SLC/SLC2/SLC3/SX/SX2, Cyrix III), IDT
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(Winchip, Winchip 2, Winchip 2A/3), IBM
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(486DX/DX2/DX4/SL/SLC/SLC2/SLC3/SX/SX2), NexGen (Nx586), Transmeta
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(Crusoe), TI (486DLC/DLC2), UMC (486SX-S, U5D/U5S), VIA (C3 Ezra
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"CentaurHauls", C3-2 "Nehemiah"), and others.
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· Intel/HP IA64 <http://www.ia64-linux.org/>: Trillian, Itanium,
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Itanium2/McKinley
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· x86-64 family including AMD
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Hammer/Opteron/K8/Athlon64/Turion/Phenom/Phenom II/FX/Fusion and
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Intel Prescott/Nocona/Potomac, Core, Atom, Nehalem, Sandy Bridge
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and Ivy Bridge
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· Motorola 68020-68040 <http://www.linux-m68k.org/> series (with
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MMU): m68k Mac <http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/>, Amiga, Atari
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ST/TT/Medusa/Falcon, HP/Apollo Domain, HP9000/300
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<http://www.tazenda.demon.co.uk/phil/linux-hp/>, sun3, and Sinclair
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Q40
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<http://ftp4.de.freesbie.org/pub/misc/tsx-11/680x0/q40/install/>.
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· Motorola/IBM PowerPC family: Most PowerMac
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<http://penguinppc.org/mac/> (including G3/G4/G5) / CHRP / PReP /
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POP, Amiga PowerUP System <http://linux-apus.sourceforge.net/>, and
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IBM PPC64 (AS/400, RS/6000, iSeries, pSeries, PowerMac G5).
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· MIPS <http://www.linux-mips.org/>: most SGI, Cobalt Qube,
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DECStation <http://decstation.unix-ag.org/>, Sony PlayStation2, and
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many others
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· DEC Alpha <http://www.alphalinux.org/>
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· HP PA-RISC <http://www.parisc-linux.org/>
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· SPARC International SPARC32 / SPARC64
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· Digital VAX <http://vax-linux.org/> minicomputers and MicroVAXen
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· Mainframes: IBM S/390 models G5 and G6 / zSeries models z800, z890,
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z900, and z990 <https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/linux390/>
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and Fujitsu AP1000+ (SuperSPARC cluster)
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Note that some items listed were probably one-time forks, little or
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not at all maintained since creation. On some of the rarer
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architectures, NetBSD <http://www.netbsd.org/> may be more practical.
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(The Debian GNU/kFreeBSD <http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/>
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port should also be solid enough to serve as a compromise option,
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furnishing GNU/Linux userspace code on the high performance / high
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stability FreeBSD kernel, and NexentaOS
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexenta_OS> provides something similar
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on the OpenSolaris kernel.)
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If seriously interested in the subject of Linux ports, please see also
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Xose Vazquez Perez's Linux ports page
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<http://web.archive.org/web/20070813000855/http://www.itp.uni-
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hannover.de/ports/linux_ports.html> and Jerome Pinot's Linux
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architectures list
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<http://web.archive.org/web/20050308130348/http://ngc891.blogdns.net/kernel/docs/arch.txt>
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(static mirrors, as both pages vanished in 2005), if only because
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hardware support is more complex than just generic CPU functionality,
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encompassing support for myriad bus variations and other subtle
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hardware issues (especially for Linux PDA / embedded / microcontroller
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/ router ports <http://www.linuxfordevices.com/>). The above list
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aims mostly to generally illustrate the breadth of Linux's reach.
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1.2. Other sources of information
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If you want to learn more, the Linux Documentation Project
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<http://www.tldp.org/> is a good place to start.
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For general information about computer user groups, please see the
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Association of PC Users Groups <http://www.apcug.net/>.
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2. What is a GNU/Linux user group?
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2.1. What is GNU/Linux?
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To fully appreciate LUGs' role in the GNU/Linux movement, it helps to
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understand what makes GNU/Linux unique.
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GNU/Linux as an operating system is powerful -- but GNU/Linux as an
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idea about software development is even more so. GNU/Linux is a free
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operating system: It's licensed under the GNU General Public Licence.
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Thus, source code is freely available in perpetuity to anyone. It's
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maintained by a unstructured group of programmers world-wide, under
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technical direction from Linus Torvalds and other key developers.
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GNU/Linux as a movement has no central structure, bureaucracy, or
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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.
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(This HOWTO credits the Free Software Foundation's GNU Project
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<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html> as the crucial motive force
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behind creating and furthering a free aka open source integrated
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system. Thus, it refers to "distributions" comprising the GNU
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operating system atop the Linux kernel as "GNU/Linux". Yes, the term
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is awkward, and FSF's request for credit isn't widely honoured; but
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the justice of FSF's claim is obvious.)
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2.2. How is GNU/Linux unique?
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GNU/Linux's loose structure is unlikely to change. That's a good
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thing: It works precisely because people are free to come and go as
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they please: Free programmers are happy programmers are effective
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programmers.
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However, this loose structure can disorient the new user: Whom does
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she call for support, training, or education? How does she know what
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GNU/Linux is suitable for?
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In part, LUGs provide the answers, which is why LUGs are vital to the
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movement: Because your town, village, or metropolis sports no Linux
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Corporation "regional office", the LUG takes on many of the same roles
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a regional office does for a large multi-national corporation.
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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
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users, and support its products. These jobs get done through diverse
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means: the Internet, consultants, VARs, support companies, colleges,
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and universities. However, increasingly, in many places around the
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globe, they are done by a LUG.
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2.3. What is a user group?
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Computer user groups are not new. In fact, they were central to the
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personal computer's history: Microcomputers arose in large part to
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satisfy demand for affordable, personal access to computing resources
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from electronics, ham radio, and other hobbyist user groups. Giants
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like IBM eventually discovered the PC to be a good and profitable
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thing, but initial impetus came from the grassroots.
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In the USA, user groups have changed -- many for the worse -- with the
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times. The financial woes and dissolution of the largest user group
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ever, the Boston Computer Society, were well-reported; but, all over
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the USA, most PC user groups have seen memberships decline. American
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user groups in their heyday produced newsletters, maintained shareware
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and diskette libraries, held meetings and social events, and,
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sometimes, even ran electronic bulletin board systems (BBSes). With
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the advent of the Internet, however, many services that user groups
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once provided migrated to things like CompuServe and the Web.
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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, developers,
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and vendors. So, the same force that sent traditional user groups into
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decline propelled GNU/Linux forward, and inspired new groups concerned
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exclusively with it.
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To give just one indication of how LUGs differ from traditional user
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groups: Traditional groups must closely monitor what software users
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redistribute at meetings. While illegal copying of restricted
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proprietary software certainly occurred, it was officially discouraged
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-- for good reason. At LUG meetings, however, that entire mindset
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simply does not apply: Far from being forbidden, unrestricted copying
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of GNU/Linux should be among a LUG's primary goals. In fact, there is
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anecdotal evidence of traditional user groups having difficulty
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adapting to GNU/Linux's ability to be lawfully copied at will.
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(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.)
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2.4. Summary
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For the GNU/Linux movement to grow, among other requirements, LUGs
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must proliferate and succeed. Because of GNU/Linux's unusual nature,
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LUGs must provide some of the same functions a "regional office"
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provides for large computer corporations like IBM, Microsoft, and Sun.
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LUGs can and must train, support, and educate users, coordinate
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consultants, advocate GNU/Linux as a computing solution, and even
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serve as liaison to local news outlets.
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3. What LUGs exist?
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Since this document is meant as a guide not only to maintaining and
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growing LUGs but also to founding them, we should, before going
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further, discuss what LUGs already exist.
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3.1. LUG lists
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There are several LUG lists on the Web. If you are considering
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founding a LUG, your first task should be to find any nearby existing
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LUGs. Your best bet may be to join a LUG already established in your
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area, rather than founding one.
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As of 2007, there are LUGs in all 50 US states plus the District of
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Columbia, all of Canada's ten provinces and three territories, all six
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of Australia's states plus the Australian Capital Territory, in 76
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locations in India, and over 100 other countries, including Russia,
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China, and most of Western and Eastern Europe.
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· Linux.org List <http://www.linux.org/xfa-groups-home/>
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· LibrePlanet Group List <http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group_list>
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· Open Directory: LUGS
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<http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/User_Groups/>
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· Lea-Linux List <http://www.lea-
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linux.org/documentations/index.php/Annuaire:LUG_%26_assos_nationales>
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· Yahoo Linux > User Groups
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<http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Operating_Systems/Unix/Linux/User_Groups/>
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· CLUE: the Canadian Linux Users' Exchange <http://www.linux.ca/>
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· UK Linux User Groups <http://www.lug.org.uk/>
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· Linux Australia <http://www.linux.org.au/>
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· LUGs List for India and Asia <http://www.wikiwikiweb.de/LugsList>
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· I Linux User Group italiani <http://lugmap.linux.it/>
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3.2. Solidarity versus convenience
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While (most) LUG lists on the Web are well-maintained, likely they
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don't list every LUG. If considering founding a LUG, I suggest, in
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addition to consulting these lists, posting a message to
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comp.os.linux.announce <news:comp.os.linux.announce>,
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comp.os.linux.misc <news:comp.os.linux.misc>, or an appropriate
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regional Usenet hierarchy, inquiring about nearby LUGs. You should
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also lodge a query (mailing list post, comment during a meeting) at
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any existing LUG you are aware of anywhere near your area, about LUGs
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near you. If no such (nearby) LUG exists, your postings will alert
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potential members to your initiative.
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Carefully balance convenience against solidarity: If a LUG exists in
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your metropolitan area but on the other side of the city, starting a
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new group may be better for convenience's sake. On the other hand,
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joining the other group may be better for reasons of unity and
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solidarity. Greater numbers almost always means greater power,
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influence, and efficiency. While two groups of 100 members each might
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be nice, one with 200 has advantages. Of course, if you live in a
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small town or village, any group is better than none.
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The point is that starting a LUG is a significant undertaking, which
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should be commenced with all relevant facts and some appreciation of
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the effect on other groups.
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4. What does a LUG do?
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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
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from bureaucracy and centralised control; so are LUGs.
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It is possible, however, to identify a core set of goals for a LUG:
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· advocacy
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· education
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· support
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· socialising
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Each LUG combines these and other goals uniquely, according to its
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membership's needs.
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4.1. GNU/Linux advocacy
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The urge to advocate the use of GNU/Linux is widely felt. When you
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find something that works well, you want to tell as many people as you
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can. LUGs' role in advocacy cannot be overestimated, especially since
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wide-scale commercial acceptance is only newly underway. While it is
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certainly beneficial to the movement, each and every time a computer
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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.
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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
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way as to reflect positively on the product, its creators and
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developers, and our fellow users. The Linux Advocacy HOWTO
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<http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Advocacy.html>, available at the Linux
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Documentation Project <http://www.tldp.org/>, gives some helpful
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suggestions, as does Don Marti's excellent Linuxmanship
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<http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/> essay. Suffice it to say that
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advocacy is important to a LUG's mission.
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A time may come when advocacy is irrelevant, because GNU/Linux has
|
|
more or less won the day, when the phrase "no one ever got fired for
|
|
using Linux" becomes reality. Until then, LUGs play a vital role in
|
|
promoting GNU/Linux use. They do so because their advocacy is free,
|
|
well-intentioned, and backed up by organisational commitment. If a
|
|
person encounters GNU/Linux through a LUG's efforts, then that new
|
|
user's already ahead of the game: She knows of an organisation that
|
|
will help her install, configure, and even maintain GNU/Linux on
|
|
whatever computers she's willing to dedicate to it.
|
|
|
|
New users already in contact with a LUG are ahead of others whose
|
|
interest in GNU/Linux has been piqued by a computer journalist, but
|
|
who have no one to whom to turn for aid in their quest to install,
|
|
run, and learn GNU/Linux.
|
|
|
|
It is, therefore, important for LUGs to advocate GNU/Linux, because
|
|
their advocacy is effective, well-supported, and free.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.2. The limits of advocacy
|
|
|
|
Advocacy can be mis-aimed; advocacy can go wrong and be
|
|
counterproductive; advocacy can be simply inappropriate in the first
|
|
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 she wants or needs. (As
|
|
Eric S. Raymond says <http://www.itworld.com/LWD000913expo00>, "Appeal
|
|
to the prospect's interests and values, not to yours.") If that person
|
|
wants exactly the proprietary-OS setup she already has, then advocacy
|
|
wastes your time and hers. If her stated requirements equate exactly
|
|
to MS-Project, MS-Visio, and Outlook/Exchange groupware, then trying
|
|
to "sell" her what she doesn't want will only annoy everyone
|
|
(regardless of whether her requirements list is real or artificial).
|
|
Save your effort for someone more receptive.
|
|
|
|
Along those lines, bear in mind that, for many people, perhaps most,
|
|
an "advocate" is perceived as a salesman, and thus classified as
|
|
someone to resist rather than listen to fairly. They've never heard
|
|
of someone urging them to adopt a piece of software without benefiting
|
|
materially, so they assume there must be something in it for you and
|
|
will push back, and act as if they're doing you a personal favour to
|
|
even listen, let alone try your recommendations.
|
|
|
|
I recommend bringing such discussions back to Earth immediately, by
|
|
pointing out that software policy should be based in one's own long-
|
|
term self interest, that you have zero personal stake in their
|
|
choices, and that you have better uses for your time than speaking to
|
|
an unreceptive audience. After that, if 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 proclaiming your views at someone without
|
|
invitation is downright rude and offensive. Moreover, when done
|
|
concerning GNU/Linux, it's also pointless: Unlike the case with
|
|
proprietary OSes, our OS 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.
|
|
GNU/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
|
|
what you can do with it. The habit of valuing everything at
|
|
acquisition cost is deeply ingrained. In 1996, I heard a young fellow
|
|
from Caldera Systems speak at a Berkeley, California LUG about the
|
|
origins of Caldera Network Desktop (the initial name of their
|
|
GNU/Linux distribution) in Novell, Inc.'s "Corsair" desktop-OS
|
|
project: In surveying corporate CEOs and CTOs, they found corporate
|
|
officers to be inherently unhappy with anything they could get for
|
|
free. So, Caldera offered them a solution -- by charging money.
|
|
|
|
Seen from this perspective, being conservative about the costs and
|
|
difficulties of GNU/Linux deployments helps make them positively
|
|
attractive -- and protects your credibility as a spokesman. Even
|
|
better would be to frame the discussion of costs in terms of the cost
|
|
of functionality (e.g., 1000-seat Internet-capable company e-mail with
|
|
offline-user capability and webmail) as opposed to listing software as
|
|
a retail-style line-item with pricing: After all, any software
|
|
project has costs, even if the acquisition price tag is zero, and the
|
|
real point of open source isn't initial cost but rather long-term
|
|
control over IT -- a key part of one's operations: With proprietary
|
|
systems, the user (or business) has lost control of IT, and is on the
|
|
wrong side of a monopoly relationship with one's vendor. With open
|
|
source, the user is in control, and nobody can take that away.
|
|
Explained that way (as opportunity to reduce and control IT risk),
|
|
people readily understand the difference -- especially CEOs -- and
|
|
it's much more significant over the long term than acquisition cost.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.3. GNU/Linux education
|
|
|
|
Not only is it the business of a LUG to advocate GNU/Linux usage, but
|
|
also to train members, as well as the nearby computing public, to use
|
|
our OS and associated components -- a goal that can make a huge real-
|
|
world difference in one's local area. While universities and colleges
|
|
are increasingly including GNU/Linux in their curricula, for sundry
|
|
reasons, this won't reach some users. For those, a LUG can give basic
|
|
or advanced help in system administration, programming, Internet and
|
|
intranet technologies, etc.
|
|
|
|
In an ironic twist, many LUGs have turned out to be a backbone of
|
|
corporate support: Every worker expanding her computer skills through
|
|
LUG participation is one fewer the company must train. Though home
|
|
GNU/Linux administration doesn't exactly scale to running corporate
|
|
data warehouses, call centres, or similar high-availability
|
|
facilities, it's light years better preparation than MS-Windows
|
|
experience. As Linux has advanced into journaling filesystems, high
|
|
availability, real-time extensions, and other high-end Unix features,
|
|
the already blurry line between GNU/Linux and "real" Unixes has been
|
|
increasingly vanishing.
|
|
|
|
Not only is such education a form of worker training, but it will also
|
|
serve, as information technology becomes increasingly vital to the
|
|
global economy, as community service: In the USA's metropolitan areas,
|
|
for example, LUGs have taken GNU/Linux into local schools, small
|
|
businesses, community and social organisations, and other non-
|
|
corporate environments. This accomplishes the goal of advocacy and
|
|
also educates the general public. As more such organisations seek
|
|
Internet presence, provide their personnel dial-in access, or other
|
|
GNU/Linux-relevant functions, LUGs gain opportunities for community
|
|
participation, through awareness and education efforts -- extending to
|
|
the community the same generous spirit characteristic of GNU/Linux and
|
|
the free software / open source community from its very beginning.
|
|
Most users can't program like Torvalds, but we can all give time and
|
|
effort to other users, the GNU/Linux community, and the broader
|
|
surrounding community.
|
|
|
|
GNU/Linux is a natural fit for these organisations, because
|
|
deployments don't commit them to expensive licence, upgrade, or
|
|
maintenance fees. Being technically elegant and economical, it also
|
|
runs very well on cast-off corporate hardware that non-profit
|
|
organisations are only too happy to use: The unused Pentium II in the
|
|
closet can do real work, if someone installs GNU/Linux on it.
|
|
|
|
In addition, education assists other LUG goals over time, in
|
|
particular that of support: Better education means better support,
|
|
which in turn facilitates education, and eases the community's growth.
|
|
Thus, education forms the entire effort's keystone: If only two or
|
|
three percent of a LUG assume the remainder's support burden, that
|
|
LUG's growth will be stifled. One thing you can count on: If new and
|
|
inexperienced users don't get needed help from their LUG, they won't
|
|
participate there for long. If a larger percentage of members support
|
|
the rest, the LUG will not face that limitation. education -- and,
|
|
equally, support for allied projects such as the Apache Web server,
|
|
X.org, Freedesktop.org, TeX, LaTeX, etc. -- is key to this dynamic:
|
|
Education turns new users into experienced ones.
|
|
|
|
Finally, GNU/Linux is a self-documenting operating environment: In
|
|
other words, writing and publicising our community's documentation is
|
|
up to us. Therefore, make sure LUG members know of the Linux
|
|
Documentation Project <http://www.tldp.org/> and its worldwide
|
|
mirrors. Consider operating an LDP mirror site. Also, make sure to
|
|
publicise -- through comp.os.linux.announce, the LDP, and other
|
|
pertinent sources of information -- any relevant documentation the LUG
|
|
develops: technical presentations, tutorials, local FAQs, etc. LUGs'
|
|
documentation often fails to benefit the worldwide community for no
|
|
better reason than not notifying the outside world. Don't let that
|
|
happen: It is highly probable that if someone at one LUG had a
|
|
question or problem with something, then others elsewhere will have
|
|
it, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4. GNU/Linux support
|
|
|
|
Of course, for the newcomer, the primary role of a LUG is GNU/Linux
|
|
support -- but it is a mistake to suppose that support means only
|
|
technical support for new users. It should mean much more.
|
|
|
|
LUGs have the opportunity to support:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· users
|
|
|
|
· consultants
|
|
|
|
· businesses, non-profit organisations, and schools
|
|
|
|
· the GNU/Linux movement
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.1. Users
|
|
|
|
New users' most frequent complaint, once they have GNU/Linux
|
|
installed, is the steep learning curve characteristic of all modern
|
|
Unixes. With that learning curve, however, comes the power and
|
|
flexibility of a real operating system. A LUG is often the a new
|
|
user's main resource to flatten the learning curve.
|
|
|
|
During GNU/Linux's first decade, it gained some first-class
|
|
journalistic resources, which should not be neglected: The main
|
|
monthly magazines of longest standing are Linux Journal
|
|
<http://www.linuxjournal.com/> and Linux Gazette
|
|
<http://linuxgazette.net/>. More recently, they've been joined by
|
|
LinuxFocus <http://www.linuxfocus.org/> and the New LinuxFocus
|
|
<http://new.linuxfocus.org/cms/> (on-line), Linux Format
|
|
<http://www.linuxformat.com>, LinuxUser and Developer
|
|
<http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/>, Linux Magazine <http://www.linux-
|
|
magazine.com/>, and LINUX For You <http://www.linuxforu.com/>.
|
|
|
|
Standout on-line magazines and news sites with weekly or better
|
|
publication cycles include Linux Weekly News <http://lwn.net/>,
|
|
DistroWatch Weekly <http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php>, Linux Today
|
|
<http://linuxtoday.com>, and FreshNews <http://www.freshnews.org/>.
|
|
|
|
All of these resources have eased LUGs' job of spreading essential
|
|
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
|
|
ftp.kernel.org <ftp://ftp.kernel.org>, that the Linux Documentation
|
|
Project <http://www.tldp.org/> has newer versions of Linux HOWTOs than
|
|
do CD-based GNU/Linux distributions, and so on.
|
|
|
|
Intermediate and advanced users also benefit from proliferation of
|
|
timely and useful tips, facts, and secrets. Because of the GNU/Linux
|
|
world's manifold aspects, even advanced users often learn new tricks
|
|
or techniques simply by participating in a LUG. Sometimes, they learn
|
|
of software packages they didn't know existed; sometimes, they just
|
|
remember arcane vi command sequences they've not used since college.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.2. Consultants
|
|
|
|
|
|
LUGs can help consultants find their customers and vice-versa, by
|
|
providing a forum where they can come together. Consultants also aid
|
|
LUGs by providing experienced leadership. New and inexperienced users
|
|
gain benefit from both LUGs and consultants, since their routine or
|
|
simple requests for support are handled by LUGs gratis, while their
|
|
complex needs and problems -- the kind requiring paid services -- can
|
|
be fielded by consultants found through the LUG.
|
|
|
|
The line between support requests needing a consultant and those that
|
|
don't is sometimes indistinct; but, in most cases, the difference is
|
|
clear. While a LUG doesn't want to gain the reputation for pawning new
|
|
users off unnecessarily on consultants -- as this is simply rude and
|
|
very anti-GNU/Linux behaviour -- there is no reason for LUGs not to
|
|
help broker contacts between users needing consulting services and
|
|
professionals offering them.
|
|
|
|
Caveat: While "the difference is clear" to intelligent people of
|
|
goodwill, the Inevitable Ones are also always with us, who act
|
|
willfully dense about the limits of free support when they have pushed
|
|
those limits too far. Remember, too, my earlier point about the vast
|
|
majority of the population valuing everything at acquisition cost
|
|
(instead of use value), including what they receive for free. 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
|
|
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 zero respect because of
|
|
its zero acquisition cost.
|
|
|
|
In the consulting world, there's a saying about applying "invoice
|
|
therapy" to such behaviour: Because of the value system alluded to
|
|
above, if your consulting advice is poorly heeded and poorly used, it
|
|
just might be the case that you need to charge more. By contrast, the
|
|
technical community has often been characterised as a "gift culture",
|
|
with a radically different value system: Members gain status through
|
|
enhanced reputation among peers, which in turn they improve through
|
|
visible participation: code, documentation, technical assistance to
|
|
the public, etc.
|
|
|
|
Clash between the two very different value-based cultures is
|
|
inevitable and can become a bit ugly. LUG activists should be
|
|
prepared to intercede before the ingrate newcomer is handed her head
|
|
on a platter, and politely suggest that her needs would be better
|
|
served by paid (consultant-based) services. There will always be
|
|
judgement calls; the borderline is inherently debatable and a likely
|
|
source of controversy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Telltale signs that a questioner may need to be transitioned to
|
|
consulting-based assistance include:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· An insistence on getting solutions in "recipe" (rote) form, with
|
|
the apparent aim of not needing to learn technological
|
|
fundamentals.
|
|
|
|
· Asking the same questions (or ones closely related) repeatedly.
|
|
|
|
· Insisting on private assistance from helpers active in public
|
|
(GNU/Linux community) forums.
|
|
|
|
· Vague problem descriptions, or ones that change with time.
|
|
|
|
· Interrupting answers in order to ask additional questions
|
|
(suggesting lack of attention to the answers).
|
|
|
|
· Demands that answers be recast or delivered more quickly
|
|
(suggesting that the questioner's time and trouble are valuable,
|
|
but that helpers' are not).
|
|
|
|
· Asking unusually complex, time-consuming, and/or multipart
|
|
questions.
|
|
|
|
In general, LUG members are especially delighted to help, on a
|
|
volunteer basis, members who seem likely to participate in the "gift
|
|
culture" by picking up its body of lore and, in turn, perpetuating 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 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 community, that one will refuse to do for money:
|
|
Shifting from assisting someone as a volunteer fundamentally changes
|
|
the relationship. A fellow computerist who suddenly becomes a
|
|
customer is a very different person; one's responsibilities are quite
|
|
different, and greater. You're advised to be aware, if not wary, of
|
|
this distinction.
|
|
|
|
Please see Joshua Drake's Linux Consultants Guide
|
|
<http://www.commandprompt.com/community/consultants/guide/> for an
|
|
international list of GNU/Linux consultants.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.3. Businesses, non-profit organisations, and schools
|
|
|
|
LUGs also have the opportunity to support local businesses and
|
|
organisations. This support has two aspects: First, LUGs can support
|
|
businesses and organisations wanting to use our OS (and its
|
|
applications) as a part of their computing and IT efforts. Second,
|
|
LUGs can support local businesses and organisations developing
|
|
software for GNU/Linux, cater to users, support or install
|
|
distributions, etc.
|
|
|
|
The support LUGs can provide to local businesses wanting to use
|
|
GNU/Linux as a part of their computing operations differs little from
|
|
the help LUGs give individuals trying GNU/Linux at home. For example,
|
|
compiling the Linux kernel doesn't really differ. Supporting
|
|
businesses, however, may require supporting proprietary software --
|
|
e.g., the Oracle, Sybase, and DB2 databases (or VMware, Win4Lin, and
|
|
such things). Some LUG expertise in these areas may help businesses
|
|
make the leap into GNU/Linux deployments.
|
|
|
|
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:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Which local ISP is Linux-friendly?
|
|
|
|
· Are there any local hardware vendors building Linux PCs?
|
|
|
|
· Does anyone sell Linux CDs locally?
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.4. Free / open-source software development
|
|
|
|
Finally, LUGs may also support the movement by soliciting and
|
|
organising charitable giving. Chris Browne
|
|
<mailto:%20cbbrowne@cbbrowne.com%20> has thought about this issue as
|
|
much as anyone I know, and he contributes the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.4.1. Chris Browne on free software / open source philanthropy
|
|
|
|
|
|
A further involvement can be to encourage sponsorship of various
|
|
GNU/Linux-related organisations in a financial way. With the multiple
|
|
millions <http://linuxcounter.net/> 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 not spent
|
|
this year upgrading a Microsoft OS), that could add up to hundreds of
|
|
millions of dollars towards development of improved GNU/Linux tools
|
|
and applications.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is appropriate, in any case, to encourage LUG members to direct
|
|
contributions to organisations with projects and goals they
|
|
individually wish to support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here are organisations with activities particularly directed towards
|
|
development of software working with GNU/Linux:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
· The Linux Foundation <http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about>
|
|
|
|
· Debian / Software In the Public Interest
|
|
<http://www.debian.org/donations.html>
|
|
|
|
· Free Software Foundation
|
|
<https://my.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom>
|
|
|
|
· KDE Project <http://www.kde.org/community/donations/>
|
|
|
|
· GNOME Foundation <http://www.gnome.org/friends/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are also organisations less directly associated with GNU/Linux,
|
|
that may nonetheless be worthy of assistance, such as:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· The Electronic Frontier Foundation <http://www.eff.org/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· The LaTeX3 Project Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The TeX Users Group (TUG) <http://www.tug.org/> 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.
|
|
|
|
Donations for the project can be sent to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
TeX Users Group
|
|
c/o Robin Laakso, executive director
|
|
TeX Users Group
|
|
PO Box 2311
|
|
Portland, OR 97208-2311
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alternatively, donations can be made online
|
|
<https://www.tug.org/donate.html>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Project Gutenberg <http://www.gutenberg.org/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Project Runeberg <http://runeberg.org/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Project Runeberg is similar to Project Gutenberg, except
|
|
concentrating on making editions of classic Nordic (Scandinavian)
|
|
literature openly available over the Internet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Open Source Education Foundation
|
|
<http://www.osef.org/donations.html>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Open Source Applications Foundation
|
|
<http://www.osafoundation.org/donations.htm>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Please note that suggested additions to the above list of GNU/Linux-
|
|
relevant charities are most welcome.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.4.5. Linux movement
|
|
|
|
I have referred throughout this HOWTO to what I call the GNU/Linux
|
|
movement. 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
|
|
developed internationally, which is easy enough to see by reading the
|
|
kernel source code's MAINTAINERS file -- but GNU/Linux is also used
|
|
internationally. This ever-expanding user base is key to GNU/Linux's
|
|
continued success, and is where the LUGs are vital.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.5. Linux socialising
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
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 acculturation.
|
|
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".
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
5. LUG activities
|
|
|
|
In the previous section I focused exclusively on what LUGs do and
|
|
should do. This section's focus shifts to practical strategies.
|
|
|
|
There are, despite permutations of form, two basic things LUGs do:
|
|
First, members meet in physical space; second, they communicate in
|
|
cyberspace. Nearly everything LUGs do can be seen in terms of meetings
|
|
and online resources.
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.1. Meetings
|
|
|
|
As I said above, physical meetings are synonymous with LUGs (and most
|
|
user groups). LUGs have these kinds of meetings:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· social
|
|
|
|
· technical presentations
|
|
|
|
· informal discussion groups
|
|
|
|
· user group business
|
|
|
|
· GNU/Linux installation
|
|
|
|
· configuration and bug-squashing
|
|
|
|
|
|
What do LUGs do at these meetings?
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Install distributions for newcomers and strangers.
|
|
|
|
· Teach members about GNU/Linux.
|
|
|
|
· Compare GNU/Linux to other operating systems.
|
|
|
|
· Teach members about application software.
|
|
|
|
· Discuss advocacy.
|
|
|
|
· Discuss the free software / open-source movement.
|
|
|
|
· Discuss user group business.
|
|
|
|
· Eat, drink, and be merry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.2. Online resources
|
|
|
|
The commercial rise of the Internet coincided roughly with that of
|
|
GNU/Linux; the latter owes something to the former. The 'Net has
|
|
always been important to development. LUGs are no different: Most have
|
|
Web pages, if not whole Web sites. In fact, I'm not sure how else to
|
|
find a LUG, but to check the Web.
|
|
|
|
It makes sense, then, for a LUG to make use of whatever Internet
|
|
technologies they can: Web sites, mailing lists, wikis, ftp, e-mail,
|
|
Web discussion forums, netnews, etc. As the world of commerce is
|
|
discovering, the 'Net is an effective way to advertise, inform,
|
|
educate, and even sell. The other reason LUGs make extensive use of
|
|
Internet technology is that the very essence of GNU/Linux is to
|
|
provide a stable and rich platform to deploy these technologies. So,
|
|
not only do LUGs benefit from, say, establishment of a Web site,
|
|
because it advertises their existence and helps organise members, but,
|
|
in deploying these technologies, LUG members learn about them and see
|
|
GNU/Linux at work.
|
|
|
|
Arguably, a well-maintained Web site is the one must-have, among those
|
|
Internet resources. My essay Recipe for a Successful Linux User Group
|
|
<http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Linux_PR/newlug.html>, for that reason,
|
|
spends considerable time discussing Web issues. Quoting it (in
|
|
outline form):
|
|
|
|
|
|
· You need a Web page.
|
|
|
|
· Your Web page needs a reasonable URL.
|
|
|
|
· You need a regular meeting location.
|
|
|
|
· You need a regular meeting time.
|
|
|
|
· You need to avoid meeting-time conflicts.
|
|
|
|
· You need to make sure that meetings happen as advertised, without
|
|
fail.
|
|
|
|
· You need a core of several enthusiasts.
|
|
|
|
· Your core volunteers need out-of-band methods of communication.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· You need to get on the main lists of LUGs, and keep your entries
|
|
accurate.
|
|
|
|
· You must have login access to maintain your Web pages, as needed.
|
|
|
|
· Design your Web page to be forgiving of deferred maintenance.
|
|
|
|
· Always include the day of the week, when you cite event dates.
|
|
Always check that day of the week, first, using gcal.
|
|
|
|
· Place time-sensitive and key information prominently near the top
|
|
of your main Web page.
|
|
|
|
· Include maps and directions to your events.
|
|
|
|
· Emphasise on your main page that your meeting will be free of
|
|
charge and open to the public (if it is).
|
|
|
|
· You'll want to include an RSVP "mailto" hyperlink, on some events.
|
|
|
|
· Use referral pages.
|
|
|
|
· Make sure every page has a revision date and maintainer link.
|
|
|
|
· Check all links, at intervals.
|
|
|
|
· You may want to consider establishing a LUG mailing list.
|
|
|
|
· You don't need to be in the Internet Service Provider business.
|
|
|
|
· Don't go into any other business, either.
|
|
|
|
· Walk the walk. (Do the LUG's computing on GNU/Linux.)
|
|
|
|
That essay partly supplements (and partly overlaps) this HOWTO.
|
|
|
|
Some LUGs using the Internet effectively:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <http://www.ale.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Boston Linux and Unix <http://www.blu.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Colorado Linux Users and Enthusiasts <http://www.cluedenver.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Dusseldorfer Linux Users Group <http://www.dlug.de/>
|
|
|
|
· India Linux Users Group - Delhi <http://linux-delhi.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Israeli Group of Linux Users <http://www.iglu.org.il/>
|
|
|
|
· Korean Linux Users Group <http://www.lug.or.kr/>
|
|
|
|
· Linux Mexico (La Cofradia Digital) <http://cofradia.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Linux User Group Austria <http://www.luga.at/>
|
|
|
|
· Linux User Group of Davis <http://www.lugod.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Linux User Group of Rochester <http://www.lugor.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Nederlandse Linux Gebruikers Groep (Netherlands Linux Users Group
|
|
or NLLGG) <http://www.nllgg.nl/>
|
|
|
|
· North Texas Linux Users Group <http://www.ntlug.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Ottawa Canada Linux Users Group <http://www.oclug.on.ca/>
|
|
|
|
· Provence Linux Users Group <http://plugfr.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Tokyo Linux Users Group <http://www.tlug.jp/>
|
|
|
|
· Turkish Linux User Group <http://www.linux.org.tr/>
|
|
|
|
· Victoria Linux User Group <http://www.vlug.org/>
|
|
|
|
· Volgograd Linux User Group <http://volgograd.lug.ru/>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please let me know if your LUG uses the Internet in an important or
|
|
interesting way; I'd like this list to include your group.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6. Practical suggestions
|
|
|
|
Finally, I want to make some very practical, even mundane, suggestions
|
|
for anyone wanting to found, maintain, or grow a LUG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.1. LUG support organisations
|
|
|
|
|
|
There once were numerous organisations offering assistance to LUGs.
|
|
One of the long-time ones remains active:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tux.Org:
|
|
Tux.Org is an umbrella organisation for LUGs and open-source
|
|
software development projects, providing a corporate entity, Web
|
|
hosting, mailing lists, mirrors of popular software, and
|
|
expertise and funding in planning special LUG events. More
|
|
information can be found at the http://www.tux.org/
|
|
<http://www.tux.org/> Web site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.2. Founding a LUG
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Determine the nearest existing LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Announce your intentions on comp.os.linux.announce and on an
|
|
appropriate regional hierarchy.
|
|
|
|
· Announce your intention wherever computer users are in your area:
|
|
bookstores, swap meets, cybercafes, colleges corporations, Internet
|
|
service providers, etc.
|
|
|
|
· Find friendly businesses or institutions in your area willing to
|
|
help you form the LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Form a mailing list or some means of communication among the people
|
|
who express an interest in forming a LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Ask key people specifically for help in spreading the word about
|
|
your intention to form a LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Solicit space on a Web server to put a few HTML pages together
|
|
about the group.
|
|
|
|
· Begin looking for a meeting place.
|
|
|
|
· Schedule an initial meeting.
|
|
|
|
· Discuss at the initial meeting the goals for the LUG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.3. Maintaining and growing a LUG
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Make the barriers to LUG membership as low as possible.
|
|
|
|
· Make the LUG's Web site a priority: Keep all information current,
|
|
make it easy to find details about meetings (who, what, and where),
|
|
and make contact information and feedback mechanisms prominent.
|
|
|
|
· Install distributions for anyone who wants it.
|
|
|
|
· Post flyers, messages, or handbills wherever computer users are in
|
|
your area.
|
|
|
|
· Secure dedicated leadership.
|
|
|
|
· Follow Linus Torvalds's benevolent dictator model of leadership.
|
|
|
|
· Take the big decisions to the members for a vote.
|
|
|
|
· Start a mailing list devoted to technical support and ask the
|
|
"gurus" to participate on it.
|
|
|
|
· Schedule a mixture of advanced and basic, formal and informal,
|
|
presentations.
|
|
|
|
· Support the software development efforts of your members.
|
|
|
|
· Find way to raise money without dues: for instance, selling
|
|
GNU/Linux merchandise to your members and to others.
|
|
|
|
· Consider securing formal legal standing for the group, such as
|
|
incorporation or tax-exempt status.
|
|
|
|
· Find out if your meeting place is restricting growth of the LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Meet in conjunction with swap meets, computer shows, or other
|
|
community events where computer users -- i.e., potential GNU/Linux
|
|
users -- are likely to gather.
|
|
|
|
· Elect formal leadership for the LUG as soon as 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).
|
|
|
|
· Provide ways for members and others to give feedback about the
|
|
direction, goals, and strategies of the LUG.
|
|
|
|
· Support GNU/Linux and free software / open source development
|
|
efforts by donating Web space, a mailing list, or an ftp site.
|
|
|
|
· Establish an ftp/Web site for relevant software.
|
|
|
|
· Archive everything the LUG does for the Web site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
· Solicit "door prizes" from GNU/Linux vendors, VARs, etc. to give
|
|
away at meetings.
|
|
|
|
· Give credit where due.
|
|
|
|
· Submit your LUG's information to all the LUG lists.
|
|
|
|
· Publicise your meetings on appropriate Usenet groups and in local
|
|
computer publications and newspapers.
|
|
|
|
· Compose promotional materials, like PostScript files, for instance,
|
|
members can use to help publicise the LUG at workplaces,
|
|
bookstores, computer stores, etc.
|
|
|
|
· Make sure you know what LUG members want the LUG to do.
|
|
|
|
· Release press releases to local media outlets about any unusual LUG
|
|
events like an Installation Fest, Net Day, etc.
|
|
|
|
· Use LUG resources and members to help local non-profit
|
|
organisations and schools with their Information Technology needs.
|
|
|
|
· Advocate the use of our OS enthusiastically but responsibly.
|
|
|
|
· Play to LUG members' strengths.
|
|
|
|
· Maintain good relations with vendors, VARs, developers, etc.
|
|
|
|
· Identify and contact consultants in your area.
|
|
|
|
· Network with the leaders of other LUGs in your area, state, region,
|
|
or country to share experiences, tricks, and resources.
|
|
|
|
· Keep LUG members advised on the state of software -- new kernels,
|
|
bugs, fixes, patches, security advisories -- and the state of the
|
|
GNU/Linux world at large -- new ports, trademark and licensing
|
|
issues, where Torvalds is living and working, etc.
|
|
|
|
· Notify the Linux Documentation Project -- and other pertinent
|
|
sources of GNU/Linux information -- about the documentation the LUG
|
|
produces: technical presentations, tutorials, local HOWTOs, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7. Legal and political issues
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.1. Organisational legal issues
|
|
|
|
The case for formal LUG organisation can be debated:
|
|
|
|
Pro: Incorporation and recognised tax-exemption limits liability and
|
|
helps the group carry insurance. It aids fundraising. It avoids
|
|
claims for tax on group income.
|
|
|
|
Con: Liability shouldn't be a problem for modestly careful people.
|
|
(You're not doing skydiving, after all.) Fundraising isn't needed for
|
|
a group whose activities needn't involve significant expenses. (Dead-
|
|
tree newsletters are so 1980.) Not needing a treasury, you avoid
|
|
needing to argue over it, file reports about it, or fear it being
|
|
taxed away. Meeting space can usually be gotten for free at ISPs,
|
|
colleges, pizza parlours, brewpubs, coffeehouses, computer-training
|
|
firms, GNU/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 whatever it's worth, this HOWTO's originator and second maintainer
|
|
lean, respectively, towards the pro and con sides of the issue -- but
|
|
choose your own poison: If interested in formally organising your
|
|
LUG, this section will introduce you to some relevant issues.
|
|
|
|
Note: this section should not be construed as competent legal counsel.
|
|
These issues require the expertise of competent legal counsel; you
|
|
should, before acting on any of the statements made in this section,
|
|
consult an attorney.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.1.1. Canada
|
|
|
|
Thanks to Chris Browne for the following comments about the Canadian
|
|
situation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Canadian tax environment strongly parallels the US environment
|
|
(for which, see below), in that the "charitable organisation" status
|
|
confers similar tax advantages for donors over mere "not for profit"
|
|
status, while requiring that similar sorts of added paperwork be filed
|
|
by the "charity" with the tax authorities in order to attain and
|
|
maintain certified charity status.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.1.2. Germany
|
|
|
|
Correspondent Thomas Kappler warns that the process of founding a non-
|
|
profit entity in Germany is a bit complicated, but comprehensively
|
|
covered at http://www.buergergesellschaft.de/?id=106947
|
|
<http://www.buergergesellschaft.de/?id=106947>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.1.3. Sweden
|
|
|
|
In Sweden, LUGs are not required to register, but then are regarded as
|
|
clubs. Registration with Skatteverket (national tax authority) offers
|
|
two classification options: non-profit organisation or "economical
|
|
association". The latter is an organisation where the goal is to
|
|
benefit its members economically, and as such is probably unsuitable,
|
|
being traditionally used for collectives of companies, or building
|
|
societies / co-operative tenant-owners, and such).
|
|
|
|
Non-profit organisations in Sweden doesn't have specific laws to
|
|
follow. Rather, general Swedish law applies: They can hire people and
|
|
they can make profit. Generally they don't pay tax on their profits.
|
|
(Profits stay in the organisation; unlike the case with "economical
|
|
associations", members don't receive business proceeds.) To be able to
|
|
do business, you must register with Skatteverket to get an
|
|
"organisation number", allowing the group to pay and get paid.
|
|
Otherwise you will probably have to arrange business through a member
|
|
in his/her individual capacity. It may then also be possible, after
|
|
securing an organisation number to apply for government financial
|
|
support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.1.4. United States of America
|
|
|
|
There are at least two different legal statuses a LUG in the USA may
|
|
attain:
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. incorporation as a non-profit entity
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. tax-exemption
|
|
|
|
Although relevant statutes differ among states, most states allow user
|
|
groups to incorporate as non-profit entities. Benefits of
|
|
incorporation for a LUG include limitations of liability of LUG
|
|
members and volunteers (but only in their passive roles as
|
|
member/shareholders, not as participants), as well as limitation or
|
|
even exemption from state corporate franchise taxes (which, however,
|
|
is highly unlikely to be a real concern -- see "Common Misconceptions
|
|
Debunked", below).
|
|
|
|
While you should consult competent legal counsel before incorporating
|
|
your LUG as a non-profit, you can probably reduce your legal fees by
|
|
being acquainted with relevant issues before consulting with an
|
|
attorney. I recommend the Non-Lawyers' Non-Profit Corporation Kit
|
|
<http://alphapublications.com/>.
|
|
|
|
As for the second status, tax-exemption, this is not a legal status,
|
|
so much as an Internal Revenue Service judgement. It's important to
|
|
realise non-profit incorporation does not ensure that IRS will rule
|
|
your LUG tax-exempt. It is quite possible for a non-profit corporation
|
|
to not be tax-exempt.
|
|
|
|
IRS has a relatively simple document explaining the criteria and
|
|
process for tax-exemption. It is Publication 557: Tax-Exempt Status
|
|
for Your Organization, available as an Acrobat file from the IRS's Web
|
|
site. I strongly recommend you read this document before filing for
|
|
non-profit incorporation. While becoming a non-profit corporation
|
|
cannot ensure your LUG will be declared tax-exempt, some incorporation
|
|
methods will prevent IRS from declaring your LUG tax-exempt. Tax-
|
|
Exempt Status for Your Organization clearly sets out necessary
|
|
conditions for your LUG to be declared tax-exempt.
|
|
|
|
Finally, there are resources available on the Internet for non-profit
|
|
and tax-exempt organisations. Some of the material is probably
|
|
relevant to your LUG.
|
|
|
|
Common Misconceptions Debunked:
|
|
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
Incorporation and tax-exempt status are separate issues. You don't
|
|
have to be incorporated to get recognition of tax-exempt status.
|
|
You don't have to be tax-exempt to be incorporated. (Odds are, you
|
|
honestly won't want either. You just probably assume you do.)
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
The "liability shield" one can get from incorporating doesn't
|
|
protect volunteers from legal liability. All it does is prevent
|
|
any plaintiffs from suing individual shareholders (LUG members, in
|
|
this case) for tort damages merely because they own the
|
|
corporation, if the corporation itself is alleged to have wronged
|
|
the plaintiff. Plaintiff's maximum haul in damages from suing the
|
|
corporation is limited to the corporate net assets, in that one
|
|
case. However, volunteers are still fully liable for any personal
|
|
involvement they're alleged to have had.
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
Umbrella insurance coverage against tort liability (i.e., against
|
|
civil litigation) for your volunteers almost certainly costs far
|
|
too much for your group to afford (think $2,500 each and every year
|
|
in premium payouts, give or take, to buy $1M in general liability
|
|
insurance coverage -- which generally would cover only the
|
|
corporation as a whole and its directors in the strict performance
|
|
of their defined duties), if you can find it at all.
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
IRS recognition as a tax-exempt group doesn't mean donations to
|
|
your group necessarily become tax-deductible: Automatic
|
|
deductibility is reserved to charities only, IRS category
|
|
501(c)(3), which must obey extremely stifling restrictions on group
|
|
activities (e.g., it would then become illegal to host anti-DMCA
|
|
events or support any other political activity), and must meet
|
|
exacting paperwork and auditing standards. It's difficult to
|
|
envision 501(c)(3) charity status actually making functional sense
|
|
for any Linux group -- though one continually hears it recommended
|
|
by those who imagine being able to tell people their donations will
|
|
be guaranteed tax deductible must justify any accompanying
|
|
disadvantages. Most LUGs would more logically file (if at all) for
|
|
recognition as a "social and recreation club", category 501(c)(7)
|
|
<http://web.archive.org/web/20090818124349/http://www.t-
|
|
tlaw.com/lr-06.htm>.
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
In any event, unless one wishes to become a registered charity to
|
|
render incoming donations tax-deductible, there is literally no
|
|
point in applying for IRS recognition of your small, informal
|
|
Linux group under any of the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)
|
|
tax-exempt statuses, because IRS simply doesn't care about groups
|
|
with annual gross revenues less than $25,000, and doesn't want to
|
|
hear from them
|
|
<http://www.guidestar.org/news/features/990_myths.jsp> (2010
|
|
update: IRS now does require a very simple annual e-Postcard
|
|
<http://epostcard.form990.org/> informational filing from all small
|
|
non-profits, to keep their 501(c) certifications, but still doesn't
|
|
want tax from them).
|
|
|
|
·
|
|
|
|
The Federal Volunteer Protection Act of 1997
|
|
<http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c105:./temp/~c105ss2v68>
|
|
does not <http://www.runquist.com/article_vol_protect.htm>, in
|
|
fact, shield volunteers of Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3)
|
|
charities from tort lawsuits. At most, it furnishes some legal
|
|
defences that can be raised during (expensive) civil litigation,
|
|
with a large number of holes and limitations, and in most states
|
|
will be denied unless the group also carries large amounts of (very
|
|
expensive -- see above) liability insurance. Also, unless the
|
|
volunteer's duties are not very meticulously defined and monitored,
|
|
and the alleged tort occurs strictly in the scope of those duties,
|
|
there's no shield at all -- plus the litigated action must not
|
|
involve a motor vehicle / aircraft / vessel requiring an operator's
|
|
licence, nor may the volunteer be in violation of any state or
|
|
Federal law, else again there's no shield at all. (On the bright
|
|
side, it's completely false, as often alleged, that the volunteer
|
|
must be a member of the group, to be covered: In fact, the Act
|
|
clearly states that a volunteer may be anyone who performs defined
|
|
services for a qualifying group and receives no compensation for
|
|
that labour.)
|
|
|
|
As may be apparent from the above, a number of groups have, in the
|
|
past, talked themselves into unjustifiable levels of bureaucratic
|
|
strait-jacketing with no real benefit and serious ongoing
|
|
disadvantages to their groups, because of misconceptions, careless
|
|
errors, and tragically bad advice in the above areas. In general, you
|
|
should be slow to heed the counsel of amateur financial and tax
|
|
advisors. (This HOWTO's maintainer had past experience during his
|
|
first career as a professional finance and tax advisor, but, if you
|
|
need competent advice tailored to your situation, please have a
|
|
consultation with someone currently working in that field.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.2. Other legal issues
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.2.1. Bootlegging
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
GNU/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 OS installations, on a very dubious
|
|
theory of legality.
|
|
|
|
If it smells unlawful, it almost certainly is. Beware.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.2.2. Antitrust
|
|
|
|
It's healthy to discuss the consulting business in general in user
|
|
group forums, but for antitrust legal reasons it's a bad idea to get
|
|
into "How much do you charge to do [foo]?" discussions, there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.3. Software politics
|
|
|
|
Chris Browne <mailto:%20cbbrowne@cbbrowne.com%20> has the following to
|
|
say about the kinds of intra-LUG political dynamics that often crop up
|
|
(lightly edited and expanded by the HOWTO maintainer):
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.3.1. People have different feelings about free / open-source soft-
|
|
ware
|
|
|
|
GNU/Linux users are a diverse bunch. As soon as you try to put a lot
|
|
of them together, some 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 its distribution, and
|
|
doesn't give all profits over to (pick favorite advocacy
|
|
organisation), it must be "evil". Ditto Red Hat or SUSE. Keep in
|
|
mind that all three of these companies have made and continue to make
|
|
significant contributions to free / open-source software.
|
|
|
|
(HOWTO maintainer's note: The above was a 1998 note, from before
|
|
Caldera exited the GNU/Linux business, renamed itself to The SCO
|
|
Group, Inc., and launched a major copyright / contract / patent /
|
|
trade-secret lawsuit and PR campaign against GNU/Linux users. My,
|
|
those times do change. Still, we're grateful to the Caldera Systems
|
|
that was , for its gracious donation of hardware to help Alan Cox
|
|
develop SMP kernel support, for funding the development of RPM, and
|
|
for its extensive past kernel source contributions and work to combine
|
|
the GNU/Linux and historical Unix codebases.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others may figure they can find some way to highly exploit the
|
|
"freeness" of the GNU/Linux platform for fun and profit. Be aware that
|
|
many users of the BSD Unix variants consider their licences that do
|
|
permit companies to build "privatised" custom versions of their
|
|
kernels and C libraries preferable to the "enforced permanent
|
|
freeness" of the GPL as applied to the Linux kernel and GNU libc. Do
|
|
not presume that all people promoting this sort of view are
|
|
necessarily greedy leeches.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If/when these people gather, disagreements can occur.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leaders should be clear on the following facts:
|
|
|
|
|
|
· There are a lot of opinions about the GPL and other open-source
|
|
licences and how they work -- mostly misinformed. It is easy to
|
|
misunderstand both the GPL and alternative licensing schemes. Most
|
|
attempts at debating same are, at root, pointless, ritualised
|
|
symbolic warfare among people who should know better. In the rare
|
|
event that participants actually aspire to understand the subject,
|
|
please direct them to the OSI's "license-discuss" mailing list and
|
|
the Debian Project's "debian-legal" mailing list, where substantive
|
|
analysis is possible and encouraged.
|
|
|
|
· GNU/Linux benefits from contributions from many places, including
|
|
proprietary-software vendors, e.g., in the Linux kernel, X.org, and
|
|
gcc.
|
|
|
|
· Proprietary implies neither better nor horrible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The main principle can be extended well beyond this; computer "holy
|
|
wars" have long been waged over endless battlegrounds, including
|
|
GNU/Linux vs. other Unix variants vs. Microsoft OSes, the "IBM PC" vs.
|
|
sundry Motorola 68000-based systems, the 1970s' varied 8-bit systems
|
|
against each other, KDE versus GNOME....
|
|
|
|
|
|
A wise LUG leader will seek to move past such differences, if only
|
|
because they're tedious. LUG leaders ideally therefore will have
|
|
thick skins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.3.2. Non-profit organisations and money don't mix terribly well.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
organisations. Some people are involved for reasons of principle, and
|
|
devote inordinate attention to otherwise minor issues, an example of
|
|
C. Northcote Parkinson's Bike Shed Effect
|
|
<http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/lexicon.html#bikeshed>. LUG business
|
|
meetings' potential for wide participation correspondingly expands the
|
|
potential for exactly such inordinate attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
As a result, it is probably preferable for there to not be any LUG
|
|
membership fee, as that provides a specific thing for which people can
|
|
reasonably demand accountability. Fees not collected can't be misused
|
|
-- or squabbled over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
If there is a lot of money and/or other substantive property, the user
|
|
group must be accountable to members.
|
|
Any vital, growing group should have more than one active person. In
|
|
troubled nonprofits, financial information is often tightly held by
|
|
someone who will not willingly relinquish monetary control. Ideally,
|
|
there should be some LUG duty rotation, including duties involving
|
|
financial control.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regular useful financial reports should be made available to those who
|
|
wish them. A LUG maintaining official "charitable status" for tax
|
|
purposes must file at least annual financial reports with the local
|
|
tax authorities, which would represent a minimum financial disclosure
|
|
to members.
|
|
|
|
|
|
With the growth of GNU/Linux-based financial software, regular reports
|
|
are now quite practical. With the growth of the Internet, it should
|
|
even be possible to publish these on the World-Wide Web.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.4. Elections, democracy, and turnover
|
|
|
|
Governing your LUG democratically is absolutely vital -- if and only
|
|
if you believe it is. I intend that remark somewhat less cynically
|
|
than it probably sounds, as I shall explain.
|
|
|
|
Tangible stakes at issue in LUG politics tend to be minuscule to the
|
|
point of comic opera: There are typically no real assets. Differences
|
|
of view can be resolved by either engineering around them with
|
|
technology (the GNU/Linux-ey solution) or by letting each camp run
|
|
efforts in parallel. Moreover, even the most militantly "democratic"
|
|
LUGs typically field, like clockwork, exactly as many candidates as
|
|
there are offices to be filled -- not a soul more.
|
|
|
|
It's tempting to mock such exercises as empty posturing, but such is
|
|
not (much) my intent. Rather, I mention them to point out something
|
|
more significant: Attracting and retaining key volunteers is vital to
|
|
the group's success. Anything that makes that happen is good. It
|
|
seems likely that the "democratic" exercise stressed in some groups,
|
|
substantive or not, encourages participation, and gives those elected
|
|
a sense of status, legitimacy, and involvement. Those are Good
|
|
Things.
|
|
|
|
Thus, if elections and formal structure help attract key participants,
|
|
use them. If those deter participants, 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 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 anything 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 vote on matters of newsletter policy (i.e., issue "executive"
|
|
orders to the volunteer production staff). Their first shock came
|
|
when I listened politely to their advice but then applied my editorial
|
|
judgement as usual. Much 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 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, "We must cultivate our garden.")
|
|
|
|
Last, plan for your replacement: If your LUG is a college student
|
|
group, and must go through a paperwork deathmarch every year to stay
|
|
accredited, make sure that and all other vital processes are
|
|
documented, so new LUG officers needn't figure everything out from
|
|
scratch. Think of it as a systems-engineering problem: You're trying
|
|
to eliminate single points of failure.
|
|
|
|
And what works for the guys in the next town may not work for your
|
|
crowd: Surprise! The keys to this puzzle are still being sought. So,
|
|
please experiment, and let me know what works for you, so I can tell
|
|
others. Have fun!
|
|
|
|
|
|
8. About this document
|
|
|
|
8.1. Terms of use
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2013, Rick Moen. Copyright (C) 1997-1998 by
|
|
Kendall Grant Clark. This document may be distributed under the terms
|
|
set forth in the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence
|
|
at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
|
|
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, or, at your option,
|
|
any later version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
8.2. New versions
|
|
|
|
New versions of the Linux User Group HOWTO will be periodically
|
|
uploaded to various GNU/Linux Web and ftp sites, principally
|
|
http://linuxmafia.com/lug/ <http://linuxmafia.com/lug/> and the Linux
|
|
Documentation Project <http://www.tldp.org/>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
8.3. Please contribute to this HOWTO
|
|
|
|
|
|
I welcome questions about and feedback on this document. Please send
|
|
them to me at rick@linuxmafia.com. I am especially interested in
|
|
hearing from LUG leaders around the world, especially outside the USA.
|
|
Please let me know of innovative or noteworthy things your group does,
|
|
meriting description here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8.4. Document history
|
|
|
|
|
|
· 1.0: Released on 13 July 1997.
|
|
|
|
· 1.1: Expanded online resources section.
|
|
|
|
· 1.3: Added LUG support organisations and expanded the Legal and
|
|
Organisational Issues section.
|
|
|
|
· 1.3.1: General editing for clarity and conciseness.
|
|
|
|
· 1.4: General editing, added new LUG resources.
|
|
|
|
· 1.4.1: General editing for clarity.
|
|
|
|
· 1.5: Added some resources, some discussion of LUG documentation,
|
|
also general editing.
|
|
|
|
· 1.5.1: Changed Web location for this document and author's e-mail
|
|
address.
|
|
|
|
· 1.5.2: New copyright notice and license.
|
|
|
|
· 1.5.3: Miscellaneous edits and minor re-organisations.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6: Added Chris Browne's material: GNU/Linux philanthropic
|
|
donations and LUG political considerations.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.1: Very minor additions.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.2: Minor corrections.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.3: Maintenance assumed by Rick Moen on 26 July 2003: General
|
|
initial touch-up, correction of broken URLs, etc.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.4: Further minor fixes and additions.
|
|
|
|
· 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,
|
|
tempering of the more egregious boosterism.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.6: More small fixes, added Yahoo LUG list.
|
|
|
|
· 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".
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.8: Fixed small glitches. Rewrote section concerning GNU/Linux
|
|
news outlets; parts of sections concerning consultants, businesses,
|
|
and elections.
|
|
|
|
· 1.6.9: Minor corrections.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.0: Caught up with GLUE membership having become free of charge.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.1: Added a bunch more newly supported embedded CPUs.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.2: Added more on CPU support / ports (which section was always
|
|
a bit silly, but I figure it might as well be exhaustive, correct,
|
|
and grandly silly, if present at all); furnished matching URLs.
|
|
Added details about GNU/Linux in India, and LINUX For You magazine.
|
|
Expanded legal issues section.
|
|
· 1.7.3: Added mention of Debian GNU/NetBSD to the CPU ports section.
|
|
Reorganised and further expanded the latter. Recorded Linux
|
|
Gazette's move to new hosting. Added LinuxFocus.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.4: Added LinuxWorld Magazine, fixed URL of Recipe for a
|
|
Successful Linux User Group, which I moved. Added Tux.Org and
|
|
LinuxUserGroups.org as LUG support organisations.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.5: Added several more embedded CPUs to the supported list,
|
|
implemented licence change (9 Jan 2004) to Creative Commons
|
|
Attribution ShareAlike 1.0 or later after securing permission from
|
|
Kendall Clark. (The HOWTO had previously been under the LDPL
|
|
version posted at LDP's site in 1997, which by 2004 had become not
|
|
only deprecated but also somewhat indeterminate as to content,
|
|
because the licence had been edited in place with neither clear
|
|
versioning nor a distinct URL for each revision.)
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.6: Corrected addresses for TeX User Group in USA and UK. Added
|
|
mention of C. Northcote Parkinson's Bike Shed Effect. Other minor
|
|
corrections.
|
|
|
|
· 1.7.7: Added reference to the UK Linux User Groups site. Added
|
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description of PingoS e.V. Corrected URL for Thomas Kappler's e-
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mail address. Added Volgograd LUG to Online Resources.
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· 1.7.8: Added Jerome Pinot's Linux architectures list, used some
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data from it. Added "I Linux User Group italiani". Corrected
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|
capitalisation of PingoS. After securing permission from Kendall
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|
Clark, added "or any later version" clause to document licence.
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· 1.7.9: Corrected India Linux link and added LINUX For You, per
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|
suggestions from Rohit Kumar. Added Linux Foundation to list of
|
|
candidates for receiving monetary support. Made fixes to Red Hat
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|
LUG list (reincarnated as "Army of Friends" database), as suggested
|
|
by Vincenzo Virgilio. Added LinuxHQ and O'Reilly LUG lists and FSF
|
|
GNU User Groups list. Added Wikipedia Category:LUGs page. Dropped
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|
material about the GLUE site, which SSC, Inc. tragically deleted
|
|
in mid-2006 without allowing anyone a chance to adopt it. Added
|
|
kernel support for two more embedded chip families. Substituted
|
|
static mirrors for two (vanished) pages listing Linux kernel ports.
|
|
Dropped LinuxWorld Magazine (vanished). Removed references to
|
|
getting help in founding LUGs from Red Hat User Group Program and
|
|
Kara Pritchard's LinuxUserGroups.org (both vanished) and from
|
|
lug.net (deactivated). Added Swedish tax/regulatory details from
|
|
Martin Karlsson. Added analysis of issues surrounding
|
|
incorporation, tax-exempt status, and insurance in the USA. Found
|
|
new URLs for a vast number of links. Updated licence to Creative
|
|
Commons BY-SA 3.0, to incorporate improvements. Re-sorted country
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|
coverage into alphabetical order (a small gesture to further reduce
|
|
US-centrism).
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· 1.8.0: Corrected typos. Improved some markup. Expanded "Common
|
|
Misconceptions Debunked" section to address recently popular errors
|
|
about USA Volunteer Protection Act of 1997, civil liability, and
|
|
IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Linked directly to the Act and an
|
|
analysis page. Furnished links for Non-Lawyers' Non-Profit
|
|
Corporation Kit, for DistroWatch Weekly, and for the Raymond
|
|
quotation.
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|
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|
· 1.8.1: Banished more typos. (I blame society.)
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|
· 1.8.2: Added more CPU ports. APCUG changed Web sites. Linux
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|
India's LUG list, lugww.counter.li.org, Red Hat Army of Friends,
|
|
LUG Webring, O'Reilly LinuxGroups, and LINUX For You Magazine (of
|
|
India) LUG List vanished. IDG moved the Raymond article (again).
|
|
LinuxFocus was revived via a CMS. NewsForge was shut down by The
|
|
Company Formerly Known as VA Linux. Linux International
|
|
Development Grant Fund program vanished. Project Gutenberg moved
|
|
to its own domain. Colorado Linux Users and Enthusiasts moved.
|
|
Added mention of IRS e-Postcard for 501(c) non-profits. Added
|
|
Linux Users Group - Delhi. Added New Zealand Linux Resource.
|
|
Added Project Runeberg.
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|
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|
· 1.8.3: Replacement ARM Linux Web site. New URLs for many embedded
|
|
and other systems. SoftBlaze renamed to PetaLinux.a LUGs
|
|
WorldWide Project, Linux Online -- User Groups, LinuxHQ User
|
|
Groups, and New Zealand Linux Resource vanished. Free Software
|
|
Foundation GNU Users Groups got moved/renamed to LibrePlanet Group
|
|
List. New URLs for LinuxFormat and LinuxCounter. PingoS e.V.
|
|
vanished (though its SelfLinux project for hypertext tutorials in
|
|
the German language persists). Linux User Group of Singapore, St.
|
|
Petersburg Linux User Group, and Svenska Linuxforeningen folded.
|
|
|
|
· 1.8.4: Linux.org (without its former Linux Online branding) has
|
|
been rebuilt and offers a new LUG directory.
|
|
|
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|
8.5. Acknowledgements
|
|
|
|
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|
I would like to give a big thank-you to Kendall Grant Clark for the
|
|
initial versions of this document in 1997-1998, and for trusting me to
|
|
take over and renovate his creation starting in 2003.
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|
|
|
Warm regards and thanks to Chris Browne
|
|
<mailto:%20cbbrowne@cbbrowne.com%20> for describing the situation with
|
|
non-profit and charitable groups in Canada, his thoughts on financial
|
|
donations as a way to participate in GNU/Linux and the free software
|
|
and open-source software movements, and his ideas about the kinds of
|
|
political issues likely to arise within LUGs.
|
|
|
|
In addition, the following people have made helpful comments and
|
|
suggestions:
|
|
|
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|
|
· Matthew Craig
|
|
|
|
· Jeff Garvas
|
|
|
|
· Greg Hankins
|
|
|
|
· James Hertzler
|
|
|
|
· Thomas Kappler
|
|
|
|
· Martin Karlsson
|
|
|
|
· Hugo van der Kooij
|
|
|
|
· Rohit Kumar
|
|
|
|
· Charles Lindahl
|
|
|
|
· Don Marti
|
|
|
|
· Vincenzo Virgilio
|
|
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