[LIG] Do we still need LUGs?

Kind of appropriate for the LI* mailing lists:

http://www.linux.com/feature/118046

"Do we still need LUGs?
By Tina Gasperson on July 18, 2007 (9:00:00 PM)


Printer friendly page Print
Comment on this article Comments

In the world of Linux, many things have changed in the last decade.
The operating system itself has grown up, and is no longer an
"upstart." But one mainstay of the Linux community, the Linux user
group (LUG), appears to be on the decline in some areas. Attendance is
down, LUG presidents say, and some groups have stopped meeting. Does
this mean we don't need LUGs anymore?

The faithful are more inclined to think that the function of the LUG
is changing from that of an incubator for Linux newbies to a social
gathering for like minds. Others say that even though fewer people
attend LUG meetings, it doesn't change the fact that the LUG is an
indispensable help in an environment where traditional support is
often hard to come by.

A few years ago, LUGs enjoyed a heady heyday. If you were lucky enough
to have a LUG close enough to drive to, you probably attended meetings
regularly. Enthusiasm, both for Linux and the ideals for which it
stands, drove an agenda full of exciting presentations, nights
dedicated to getting a new distribution installed on your desktop, and
lots of free stuff from companies like Red Hat, Corel, and SUSE, who
wanted us to catch the fever.

Today, many LUGs have seen a slowdown in attendance, and some Linux
events typically sponsored by local user groups have ceased to exist,
such as the Atlanta Linux Showcase (ALS). Chris Farris, one of the
founders of ALS and a sponsor of the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts group,
says the quality of ALE has dropped "since the dot-com-bust period of
2001-2003. For me, part of the drop-off had to do with shutting down
ALS, which was a driver for a lot of my participation in the Linux
community." Farris says that ALE has split into three groups to help
members avoid Atlanta traffic jams: Central, Northeast, and Northwest.
"Northwest has been on and off," he says. "Northeast has a small group
of people who attend -- under 10. Central still gets decent turnout,
but nothing like we saw back in 1995-1998 at Georgia Tech, where we
could fill a 100-person room."

Brad Spry, the contact person for the UNC Charlotte Linux Users Group,
says attendance at that LUG is down, "but the reasons are not cut and
dry." He says that because the LUG is university-based, it's hard to
find a meeting time that works. Because of that, Spry says the most
valuable asset for his group is the listserv. "Email isn't burdened by
time. People can participate whenever they have a chance. It's a busy
world."

Vernard Martin of ALE agrees. "While [ALE] has broken into several
groups, the overall mailing list hasn't fragmented yet, and has many
more people subscribed than actually attend all the meetings
combined." He says that the communication that mailing lists provide
shows that the LUGs still are "quite useful."

The Suncoast Area Linux User Group (SLUG), based in the Tampa Bay area
of Florida, had splinter groups in at least three different counties
in busier days. Now, SLUG is contracting. President Paul Foster says,
"This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't know that you have to
repair LUGs because their attendance is down. Times change, the market
changes, conditions change." But Foster doesn't agree that attendees
aren't willing to drive miles to a meeting. "Gas isn't that expensive
yet," he says. "If people don't come, then there's obviously nothing
compelling enough to get them there.

"The height of SLUG was the Tampa meetings at Price Waterhouse Cooper
[office building]. We had a large room, fast Internet access, and
power at each table. Lots of tech talk, lots of questions answered. We
had 35-40 per meeting." When the group could no longer provide
Internet access and power outlets, meeting attendance dropped, Foster
says. "We dropped down to maybe 20, and I don't know what it is now.

"I've lost a lot of my enthusiasm for Linux," Foster says. "Here's
what I mean by that: when I first got involved, I was stoked. Windows
sucked, and here was something I could tinker with. I could write
programs with the free compiler, and everything was fairly
transparent. At that time, Linux was not exactly the easiest thing to
figure out, though. Installs required a lot of information I didn't
know and didn't have to supply to Windows. Fast forward 10 years -- I
still use Linux almost exclusively and with no regrets. But now, I
know most of what I need to know to do anything I need to do. Installs
don't require me to know much, the software mostly figures out my
hardware. I love Linux. I'm just not excited about it. It's like
buying a new car. It's cool-looking. It smells like a new car. A few
months go by. You still like your car. But it's now just your car.
It's what gets you from point A to point B. You don't think much about
it."

Not dead yet

Though the trend may be down, some LUGs are still going strong.
According to member Jeff Waugh, the monthly meetings of Sydney's SLUG
still pull in "60-100," with an active mailing list and a strong
presence in the business community. The Linux Users Group in
Princeton, NJ, LUG/IP, is still growing, says member Brian Jones.
"We're seeing more people who are brand new to Linux, and also more
people who are generally new computer users who are looking to buy a
PC but want to know about Linux."
Social networking

Foster says the conversation at LUG meetings doesn't focus heavily on
Linux anymore. "In general, the discussion ranges from home remodeling
to wives, to Verizon and other evil corporations. I make sure we touch
on Linux at least once a meeting, but that discussion usually lasts
for about 10 minutes. The guys who come are not newbies. They are
engineering types or networking types who work with computers daily.
We don't do presentations, but welcome anyone who wants to bring a box
and have us hack away at it."

For some long-time Linux people, a social gathering is the ideal
scenario. "LUGs provide other things that don't get obsolete, notably
a social context," says Chris Browne, a "troublemaker/shooter" for the
GTALUG in Toronto. "To hobbyists or enthusiasts, much of the point is
to get together with other enthusiasts. The point is to meet socially
with a group of like-minded people."

SLUG member Dylan Hardison says his sole interest in LUGs "has always
been social. I don't think presentations, the promise of new
knowledge, or free stuff has ever been a consideration. All of my
geographically close friends I have met via SLUG. I also met my
fianc&eacture;e at a meeting. Pretty much every job I've ever had has
been somehow related to SLUG or someone I've met through SLUG."

Jeff Waugh, a member of the Sydney, Australia, SLUG, agrees that the
social aspect is valuable. "[It] is still important to the organic,
high-value growth of the userbase, mingling of ideas, and opportunity
for business connections." It's possible that the "social LUG thing"
ends up being the default mode once all the excitement has died down.

"Our LUG doesn't do a whole lot," says longtime Tampa SLUG member
Russell Hires. "We don't really have a cool Web site. We don't have
presentations that often, that I'm aware of. I did one or two myself,
but I admit I didn't do a great job. We've done a few things in the
past, but nothing really lately. We seem to have expertise, but no one
with energy and experience and ability invests a whole lot in our LUG.
I feel like we all wait for someone else to do something."

Spry says he's trying to spur more interest. "One trial balloon I
floated recently was a merger between Linux and Mac user groups. I
feel they have a lot in common now, and would be a stronger group
together. Both groups seemed to warm to the idea, but it has gone
nowhere. Apathy reigns supreme. It seems as if advocacy has become
cliché."

Some see the decline in interest as more of a shift in focus from the
operating system to the applications that run on it -- "showing
applications, showing concepts, planting the seed of an idea for what
someone who has just recently installed Linux can do," says Gareth
Greenaway, president of Simi Conejo Linux Users Group. Greenaway says
the Simi LUG has seen lower numbers over the last several years,
"mostly due to the lack of interesting topics at the meetings." Farris
says that ALE's topics have "almost always been about an application
that runs on Linux: Asterisk, MythTV, dosemu, Exchange replacements,
TiVo."

"I've never seen a LUG that was kernel-centric, they were always
application centric," says Terry Collins, a computer hardware
consultant based in Australia.

Whatever LUGs are for, and wherever they are headed, no one really
wants them to go away. "We still need LUGs," Farris says. "They
provide a place for professionals, students, and hobbyists to meet,
discuss and network."

Foster sums it up. "You've got a group of people who are generally
extraordinary. They're fairly knowledgeable about a pretty technical
field. They're generally courteous and good-humored and willing to
help, for free. While we don't all attend barbecues at each other's
houses, and we may not agree on politics or religion, we still can
count on each other more or less as friends. That's not a bad reason
to have a group together."
Tina Gasperson writes about business and technology for some of the
most respected publications in the industry. She's been freelancing
since 1998. "

-- 
Homer: He has all the money in the world, but there's one thing he can't buy.
Marge: What's that?
Homer: (pause) A dinosaur.
                            -- Homer J. Simpson
Sudhakar Chandra                                    Slacker Without Borders

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc.
Still grepping through log files to find problems?  Stop.
Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser.
Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >>  http://get.splunk.com/