8. About this document

8.1 Terms of use

Copyright (C) 2003-2004, 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 1.0 licence at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/, 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 Linux Web and ftp sites, principally http://linuxmafia.com/lug/ and the Linux Documentation Project.

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. I'd like to include real-life examples of things described here. I'm particularly trying to include more on LUGs outside the USA. Please let me know of 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 licence.
• 1.5.3: Miscellaneous edits and minor re-organisations.
• 1.6: Added Chris Browne's material: 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: 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.
• 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 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 processor support; furnished matching URLs. Added details about 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 to Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 1.0 after securiing permission from Kendall Clark.
• 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 description of PingoS e.V. Corrected URL for Thomas Kappler's e-mail address. Added Volgograd LUG to Online Resources.
• 1.7.8: Added Jerome Pinot's Linux architectures list, used some data from it. Added "I Linux User Group italiani". Corrected capitalisation of PingoS. After securing permission from Kendall Clark, added "or any later version" clause to document licence.

8.5 Acknowledgements

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.

Warm regards and thanks to Chris Browne for describing the situation with non-profit and charitable groups in Canada, his thoughts on financial donations as a way to participate in 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:

• Jeff Garvas
• James Hertzler
• Greg Hankins
• Thomas Kappler
• Hugo van der Kooij
• Charles Lindahl
• Don Marti