[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Do LUGs Still Matter?

[Chuck]

> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2005 11:58:58 -0600
> From: "./aal" <al_h at technologist.com>
> Subject: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Do LUGs Still Matter?
> To: NTLUG Discussion List <discuss at ntlug.org>
> Message-ID: <43AEDDE2.8050101 at technologist.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Stan Gatchel wrote:
> > /Slashdot is carrying this article. Oh, this oughta be good:
> >
> > "Do LUGs still matter
> > <http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/12/23/193238>? Back in
> > the day, LUGs were rowdy, popular, and highly contagious centers for
> > aficionados of Linux. Install fests were a big deal. Members came from
> > all walks of life, united only by a penchant for something new and cool,
> > and a chance to place a bet on the impossible notion of world domination
> > by an operating system hacked together by a ragtag bunch of students on
> > the Internet. It's different today. Linux is now mainstream, it's being
> > spread by slick corporate marketing, and with most distros, installation
> > is a snap. So the question arises, do LUGs still matter?"/
> > _______________________________________________
>
> Yes they do
>
> It takes some work these days to find one you want to bother showing up
> for.
>
> Sometimes the good lugs are only available through the net, I have lived
> in other states and had the good fortune of interacting with some
> fantastic lugs.
>
> NTLUG.org is a great lug I attended while I lived in TX. Among its
> regular attendees is the great John Carmack. We had large events with
> great turnout. This is recent not "back in the day".
>
> Lugs are evolving entities. There is always a core of devoted
> individuals or the lug would desolve. Sometimes the ever changing member
> list will include helpful, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable individuals.
> Other times you will encounter the tender mercies of those who prefer to
> nitpick and feed their own ego while advancing their own agendas which
> have little to nothing with supporting the community as a whole. And you
> know who you are.
>
> The strength of a lug is not what you can get from it, but what you put
> into it.
>
> Linux does not pay for PR, we are it.
> The only agenda for a lug member to advance is world domination. That
> wont happen by force, that takes deep pockets, it must happen with the
> finesse of a friendly handshake and a smile.
>
> So, in closing, Lugs are only as irrelevant as its members choose to
> make it.
>
>
>
> ./aal

This was something I was thinking about the other day.  There is no one really 
advertising Linux, except to enterprise users.  No one is inviting people to 
try it on the desktop for fun or education.  Linux has all but vanished from 
the mainstream press.  I check out PC World and that other PC magazine most 
months at the library and there is NEVER a mention of Linux.  I did some work 
in a school recently and the classroom with computers in it was marked on the 
plans "MS Computer Lab" (I asked; MS is Microsoft).  In the five years I have 
been using Linux I have met exactly ONE other person who has tried it 
(outside the LUG). 

So I wonder; would it be a good idea to try a little marketing?  What about 
doing an "Install Fest" at the local library or school?  There are 
"Technology" classes at most of the middle and high schools.   I know 
teachers and they would probably be interested in an offer of a guest 
presentation on Linux.  Could the LUG organize something like that?   

The most powerful corporation the world has ever known has to resort to 
posting that pathetic "Get The Facts" website to try and influence people to 
avoid Linux.  Is there anything we can do to counter that, even a little bit?   

Chuck  (not my real name, for fear of reprisals)