General Information

The Macon Users Group's Linux SIG (Special Interest Group) is for people interested in learning (and using) one or more “flavors” of the Linux operating system.

Since we are a part of the Macon User Group, membership in the MUG is desirable—but guests are always welcome at SIG meetings. The SIG itself has no membership dues, but you can join MUG for just $24 a year; $2 a month won't break most people. But if you are interested in Linux, don't stay away because you haven't joined MUG (yet).

The SIG meets monthly, usually on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. However, this is subject to change depending on the availability of a suitable location. The time and location of the next meeting will be announced here, and in other places around the community.

The activities of the SIG are organized around four general functions or goal areas:

Education

Advocacy

Support

Socializing

Education activities involve training group members in the effective use of the operating system, through presentations by “experts,” demonstrations, and assistance with self-study.

Advocacy is simply letting others know that Linux is available, useful, and inexpensive (read: mostly free). In this respect, Rick Moen has pointed out 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 favor to even listen, let alone try your recommendation.

Support, in this context, means technical support for SIG members, but may (in time) extend to the broader community of consultants, businesses, schools, etc.

Socializing,of course, means getting together to have fun -- “sharing experiences, forming friendships, and mutually-shared admiration and respect.”

Some links for you to peruse:

The Linux Foundation
The Free Software Foundation
K Desktop Environment (KDE) Project
Gnome Desktop Environment
The Linux Documentation Project. This site has links to a number of good resources, including a couple of on-line Linux magazines.

What else would you like to see on this page??

Please send your comments to Jim Swanson, SIG coordinator.