ILUG (Irish Linux User Group)
by Noel Carroll
The Irish Linux Users Group (ILUG) was set up in 1997 to promote awareness of the Linux operating system within Ireland. The ILUG also acts as a focal point both for developers wishing to contribute to the Open Source movement and for users of all levels seeking to solve their individual technical issues. Much of the everyday interaction revolves around our mailing lists but our web site contains a lot of valuable information for everyone including a list of hardware and software vendors who deal with Linux, an area for beginners, a library containing books and software for loan, and a downloads area where software written by members of the ILUG is freely available.
We now boast over 600 members and this figure is growing all the time. On a local level, many Irish cities now have their own very active user groups and these are accessible from our site.
One of our major projects for the past few years has been the hosting of the annual Irish LinuxWorld exhibition. These two days of seminars and trade exhibits are proving to be extremely popular with a growing attendance at each event. We also organise presentations and seminars over the course of the year which focus on subjects particularly relevant to Linux. Frequent social events are also organised. These range from local meetings or Face2Faces to group days or InstallFests where experienced members are on hand to guide newcomers through the Linux installation process. Anyone attending one of these events is encouraged to bring along their PC and we'll help you set it up. Demonstrations of some advanced hardware and software setups are also carried out at these events. We always need new members willing to host discussions or make presentations at these events so if you have something you'd like to talk about, we'd like to hear from you.
As was mentioned earlier, the ILUG offers several list based discussion forums. Apart from the main list (ilug@linux.ie), we also have a web development forum (webdev@linux.ie), and last, but not least, social@linux.ie. This is the entertainment list. Members regularly meet for nights out at the pub or cinema as well as lunch, however other events have also been organised and have been very successful.
As a group, we are very open to new ideas and suggestions and we always welcome comments and help from our members. We have a committee consisting of six officers to coordinate the running of the group and the organisation's events. The term of office is one year and elections take place at the ILUG AGM in June.
Membership of the ILUG is free and is open to anyone. To become a member you simply have to subscribe to one or more of the above lists, or contact the committee with your name and email address.
For more information, check out the ILUG website.
