Installfest hosted by the Rutgers University Student Linux Users' Group.
A Linux User Group or Linux Users' Group (LUG) or GNU/Linux User Group (GLUG) is a private, generally non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users. The term commonly refers to local groups that meet in person but is also used to refer to online support groups that may have members spread over a very wide area and that do not organize, or are not dependent on, physical meetings. Many LUGs encompass FreeBSD and other free-software / open source Unix-based operating systems.
Local Linux user groups meet (typically weekly to monthly) to provide support and/or arrange and host presentations for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users. Given that Linux is not dominated by any specific corporate or institutional entity, LUG meetings typically encompass a broader range of topics than do the meetings of other user groups. Linux is predominantly user-supported, and some support is vastly easier via telephone or in person than over e-mail or USENET. LUGs are still primarily focused on hobbyist users and professionals who are engaged in self-directed study.
SVLUG is among the oldest and largest LUGs. It was originally formed as a Special Interest Group for the Silicon Valley Computer Society, founded by Daniel Kionka to support Xenix and "low-cost PC UNIX systems" (and later became focused on Linux, as the dominant free implementation of Unix).
According to the Linux User Group HOWTO:
Computer user groups are not new. In fact, they were central to the personal computer's history: Microcomputers arose in large part to satisfy demand for affordable, personal access to computing resources from electronics, ham radio, and other hobbyist user groups. Giants like IBM eventually discovered the PC to be a good and profitable thing, but initial impetus came from the grassroots.
To give just one indication of how LUGs differ from traditional user groups: Traditional groups must closely monitor what software users redistribute at meetings. While illegal copying of restricted proprietary software certainly occurred, it was officially discouraged—for good reason. At LUG meetings, however, that entire mindset simply does not apply: Far from being forbidden, unrestricted copying of Linux should be among a LUG's primary goals. In fact, there is anecdotal evidence of traditional user groups having difficulty adapting to Linux's ability to be lawfully copied at will.[1]
Typical activities
LUGs typically meet once per month, in facilities freely provided by universities, colleges, community centers, private corporations, or banquet rooms in restaurants. For example, Silicon Valley's SVLUG[2] met for about 10 years in the back of a Carl's Jr. restaurant, and has met for the last several years in meeting rooms at Cisco Systems and, more recently, Symantec. Similarly, BALUG[3] (a San Francisco LUG) met for many years in the banquet room above the Four Seas Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Most LUGs are free, requiring no monthly or annual dues. In many cases, the participants are encouraged to patronize the host venues (esp. in restaurant meetings, by buying dinner).
Some LUGs are informal conferences or round table discussions; members simply sit around and chat about Linux-related topics. Some provide formal presentations. For example, Linus Torvalds has occasionally talked to SVLUG or BALUG (which both are close to his former home in Silicon Valley), and Hans Reiser (creator of ReiserFS) presented his early design plans at an SVLUG meeting. Presenters might be anyone in the community with something interesting to say. Occasionally, corporations will sponsor or encourage their employees to speak at user groups to promote their products. LUGs generally require that these presentations provide technically interesting content, rather than overt sales pitches. Often, LUG meetings provide an opportunity for members and guests to make announcements, especially for jobs offered and/or wanted, pleas for assistance (free or professional consulting), and hardware for sale or to be given away "to a good home".
LUGs near each other geographically sometimes get together to hold conferences and share knowledge among peers. For example, in Central America, in 2009, the first Encuentro Centro Americano de Software Libre was held in Nicaragua, where LUGs from the region, from Belize to Panama, attended. Groups from other countries are also invited. In 2010, this conference was held in Punta Renas, Nicaragua; where there were members from the region, including from Germany and Mexico. In 2011, it was held in El Salvador. These events usually take place in summer, as most of the LUG members are students. As a second example, several Los Angeles-area LUGs sponsor and staff the annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) conference.
Many LUGs also organize installfests (FreeBSD groups tend to refer to them as "installations"), which are opportunities for experienced Linux users to help others, especially novices with installation and configuration of Linux systems. Installfests may also have break-out sessions for teaching new tips and tricks—performance tuning, security hardening, etc.
A few LUGs have developed projects of regional or even international stature. For example, the Uganda Linux User Group[4] operates in 3 major cities and frequently coordinates national and international events that have featured guests as high-profile as Tim Berners-Lee[citation needed]. Cyberstorm.mu, a Linux User Group from Mauritius, trains high school students on Linux to compete in Google Code-in[5] and organises Hackathons focused on Linux.[6][7] The Bellingham Linux Users Group[8] (BLUG), in Bellingham, Washington, holds the annual LinuxFest Northwest, which attracts large numbers of participants from throughout the region, including western Canada. Likewise, Bellevue Linux Users Group[9] (BELUG), which meets in a bookstore in Bellevue, Washington, has developed The Linux Information Project[10] (LINFO).
LUGs sometimes are gifted with surplus books, back issues of Linux magazines, copies of CDs/DVDs, and other promotional items to give away to their members.
Other than these "official" LUG activities, the meetings provide opportunities for users to socialize. Members often exchange e-mail addresses, URLs, and phone numbers, and provide technical support or collaborate on study or development projects together. Some local LUGs share characteristics of online LUGs, meeting on IRC or hosting support mailing lists, in addition to the physical meetings. LUGs may also have an online blog presence; for example OCLUG, OSU LUG, and Nottingham LUG host "Planet" pages aggregating members' blogs.[11][12][13]
LUGs can also be a natural place for local organizations to find Linux expertise. Professors for Unix classes at San Jose State University came to SVLUG in the early days of Linux to find guest lecturers for their classes; some LUGs provide computer help to schools and non-profit organizations, and perform other community outreach services.
Installfests
[...] an installfest is a gathering at which experienced Linux users assist less experienced users with the installation and configuration of Linux distributions, and where Linux users can bring Linux systems to receive assistance with system problem remediation.
An Installfest (a portmanteau of installation and festival) is an event, generally sponsored by a local Linux User Group, university, or LAN party, at which people get together to do mass installations of computer operating systems or software, most often Linux and other open source software.
It is generally an advocacy and community-building event, where novices bring their computers along with their preferred operating system installation disks to the location of the installfest, and experienced users help them in getting started and troubleshooting problems. Sometimes, a Linux distribution and informative flyers are given for free to the attendees. Some events ask for participants to bring power strips and network switches, if available.
Installfests welcome all skill levels from complete novice to expert. An installfest will range from an informal get together to festivals involving music. The tone and scope of a specific event will depend on the organization sponsoring it. Writing in the BBC's Internet Blog in 2008, George Wright described a mini-installfest as being "as painless as [he]'d imagined" and "[with] a bit of luck, it can be straightforward".[15]
Local LUGs celebrate Software Freedom Day by going out and promoting Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Free Ubuntu CDs are given out along with brochures and any information about FOSS. This event is commonly held on the third Saturday of September.
Online LUGs
Not all online Linux support groups refer to themselves as "a LUG", and the use of the word is sometimes (as in the Linux User Group HOWTO)[1] intended to specifically refer to groups of Linux users that organize regular meetings. However, the LUG indexes list groups with members over a large geographical area, and, over time, organizations like the EU LUG, for Linux users throughout the European Union (as of 2005[update], apparently defunct) use the term LUG to refer to themselves.
Online LUGs use mailing lists, bulletin boards, and IRC as their primary method of communication, with members meeting physically seldom or not at all. As with local LUGs, some groups are limited to technical discussions and others seek to form social bonds between Linux users by having "chat" or "off topic" forums.
Reasons for forming or joining an online LUG differ: Some members of online LUGs may be relatively isolated without a local LUG accessible, or with only a few other Linux users in their area.
Women in Free Software Communities
The online group LinuxChix is a worldwide LUG and social group that was founded to provide technical and social support for women Linux users.
An EC-funded study (2006) summarized in the Flosspols report,[16] indicates that about 1.5% of FLOSS community members were female, compared with 28% in proprietary software. The Ubuntu Census Survey (June 2006) also reflects a similar female ratio with 2.4% women actively volunteering in the Ubuntu community.
Other *-women communities are:
Ubuntu-Women[17] seeks to balance and diversify the Ubuntu Community, by actively engaging in discussions with women and encouraging them to participate and become more involved within the Ubuntu community.
Debian-Women[18] seeks to balance and diversify the Debian Project, by actively engaging with interested women and encouraging them to become more involved with Debian.
Gnome-Women[19] is a group dedicated to providing encouragement for women to contribute to GNOME, a free and open-source Linux/Unix desktop suite.
KDE-Women[20] is about building a community of female KDE contributors and users.
Apache-Women[21] has a mailing list for discussions.
Fedora-Women[22] program aims to provide a forum for the women of the Fedora Community.
Arch Linux Women[23] is an all-inclusive Linux user group that focuses on encouraging women to get involved in the Arch Linux community.
A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.
In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. The desktop environment was seen mostly on personal computers until the rise of mobile computing. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional command-line interface (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.
Advanced package tool, or APT, is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian, and Debian-based Linux distributions. APT simplifies the process of managing software on Unix-like computer systems by automating the retrieval, configuration and installation of software packages, either from precompiled files or by compiling source code.
Gambas is the name of an object-oriented dialect of the BASIC programming language, as well as the integrated development environment that accompanies it. Designed to run on Linux and other Unix-like computer operating systems, its name is a recursive acronym for Gambas Almost Means Basic. Gambas is also the word for prawns in the Spanish, French, and Portuguese languages, from which the project's logos are derived.
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaboratively developing and publishing software that gives everyone the rights to freely run the software, copy and distribute it, study it, and modify it. GNU software grants these rights in its license.
Compiz is a compositing window manager for the X Window System, using 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. Effects, such as a minimization animation or a cube workspace, are implemented as loadable plugins. Because it conforms to the ICCCM conventions, Compiz can be used as a substitute for the default Mutter or Metacity, when using GNOME Panel, or KWin in KDE Plasma Workspaces. Internally Compiz uses the OpenGL library as the interface to the graphics hardware.
PulseAudio is a network-capable sound server program distributed via the freedesktop.org project. It runs mainly on Linux, including Windows Subsystem for Linux on Microsoft Windows and Termux on Android; various BSD distributions such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and macOS; as well as Illumos distributions and the Solaris operating system. It serves as a middleware in between applications and hardware and handles raw PCM audio streams.
Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses and recommends the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the use and importance of GNU software in many distributions, causing some controversy.
HAL is a software subsystem for UNIX-like operating systems providing hardware abstraction.
A desktop environment is a collection of software designed to give functionality and a certain look and feel to an operating system.
LugRadio was a British podcast on the topic of Linux and events in the free and open source software communities, as well as coverage of technology, digital rights and politics.
Fedora Linux is a Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. It was originally developed in 2003 as a continuation of the Red Hat Linux project. It contains software distributed under various free and open-source licenses and aims to be on the leading edge of open-source technologies. It is now the upstream source for CentOS Stream and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Strigi was a file indexing and file search framework adopted by KDE SC. Strigi was initiated by Jos van den Oever. Strigi's goals are to be fast, use a small amount of RAM, and use flexible backends and plug-ins. A benchmark as of January 2007 showed that Strigi is faster and uses less memory than other search systems, but it lacks many of their features. Like most desktop search systems, Strigi can extract information from files, such as the length of an audio clip, the contents of a document, or the resolution of a picture; plugins determine what filetypes it is capable of handling. Strigi uses its own Jstream system which allows for deep indexing of files. Strigi is accessible via Konqueror, or by clicking on its icon, after adding it to KDE's Kicker or GNOME Panel. The graphical user interface (GUI) is named Strigiclient.
GNOME Shell is the graphical shell of the GNOME desktop environment starting with version 3, which was released on April 6, 2011. It provides basic functions like launching applications and switching between windows, and is also a widget engine. GNOME Shell replaced GNOME Panel and some ancillary components of GNOME 2.
systemd is a software suite that provides an array of system components for Linux operating systems. The main aim is to unify service configuration and behavior across Linux distributions. Its primary component is a "system and service manager" – an init system used to bootstrap user space and manage user processes. It also provides replacements for various daemons and utilities, including device management, login management, network connection management, and event logging. The name systemd adheres to the Unix convention of naming daemons by appending the letter d. It also plays on the term "System D", which refers to a person's ability to adapt quickly and improvise to solve problems.
Linspire is a commercial operating system based on Debian and Ubuntu and currently owned by PC/OpenSystems LLC. It had been owned by Linspire. Inc. from 2001 to 2008, and then by Xandros from 2008 to 2017.
MATE is a desktop environment composed of free and open-source software that runs on Linux, and other Unix-like operating systems such as BSD, and illumos operating systems.
Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution for personal computers, tablets and smartphones, where the Ubuntu Touch edition is used; and also runs network servers, usually with the Ubuntu Server edition, either on physical or virtual servers or with containers, that is with enterprise-class features.
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