Linux Education
From Berkshire Linux Users Group
Not only is it the business of BLUG to advocate Linux usage, but also to train members, as well as the nearby computing public, to use Linux and associated components -- a goal that can make a huge real-world difference in one's local area. While universities and colleges are increasingly including Linux in their curricula, for sundry reasons, this won't reach some Linux users. For those, BLUG can give basic or advanced help in system administration, programming, Internet and intranet technologies, etc.
In an ironic twist, many LUGs have turned out to be a backbone of corporate support: Every worker expanding her computer skills through LUG participation is one fewer the company must train. Though home Linux administration doesn't exactly scale to running corporate data warehouses, call centres, or similar high-availability facilities, it's light years better preparation than MS-Windows experience. As Linux has advanced into journaling filesystems, high availability, real-time extensions, and other high-end Unix features, the already blurry line between Linux and "real" Unixes has been increasingly vanishing.
Not only is such education a form of worker training, but it will also serve, as information technology becomes increasingly vital to the global economy, as community service: In the USA's metropolitan areas, for example, LUGs have taken Linux into local schools, small businesses, community and social organisations, and other non-corporate environments. This accomplishes the goal of Linux advocacy and also educates the general public. As more such organisations seek Internet presence, provide their personnel dial-in access, or other Linux-relevant functions, LUGs gain opportunities for community participation, through awareness and education efforts -- extending to the community the same generous spirit characteristic of Linux and the free software / open source community from its very beginning. Most Linux users can't program like Torvalds, but we can all give time and effort to other Linux users, the Linux community, and the broader surrounding community.
Linux is a natural fit for these organisations, because deployments don't commit them to expensive licence, upgrade, or maintenance fees. Being technically elegant and economical, it also runs very well on cast-off corporate hardware that non-profit organisations are only too happy to use: The unused Pentium 133 in the closet can do real work, if someone installs Linux on it.
In addition, Linux education assists other LUG goals over time, in particular that of Linux support: Better education means better support, which in turn facilitates education, and eases the Linux community's growth. Thus, education forms the entire effort's keystone: If only two or three percent of a LUG assume the remainder's support burden, that LUG's growth will be stifled. One thing you can count on: If new and inexperienced users don't get needed help from their LUG, they won't participate there for long. If a larger percentage of members support the rest, the LUG will not face that limitation. Linux education -- and, equally, support for allied projects such as the Apache Web server, XFree86, TeX, LaTeX, etc. -- is key to this dynamic: Education turns new Linux users into experienced ones.
Finally, Linux is a self-documenting operating environment: In other words, writing and publicising our community's documentation is up to us. Therefore, make sure LUG members know of the Linux Documentation Project and its worldwide mirrors. Consider operating an LDP mirror site. Also, make sure to publicise -- through comp.os.linux.announce, the LDP, and other pertinent sources of Linux information -- any relevant documentation the LUG develops: technical presentations, tutorials, local FAQs, etc. LUGs' documentation often fails to benefit the worldwide Linux community for no better reason than not notifying the outside world. Don't let that happen: It is highly probable that if someone at one LUG had a question or problem with something, then others elsewhere will have it, too.
