Hi, I've just moved out of Sydney to a regional area (Coffs Harbour), where there is no even remotely local (ooh, what a fab oxymoron) LUG that I can find. There seems to have been one some years ago which has presumably withered and died, leaving no trace beyond 404 errors and bouncing emails.
So I have no alternative but to start one myself. Perhaps this discussion belongs on slug-chat (to which I am not subscribed), but I'd welcome any suggestions about how to go about this, or offers of assistance. I've read the LUG HOWTO, and various other resources on the web, so Australian-specific advice would be particularly helpful. One thing that occurred to me is that it might be better to set up a "free software" users' group, rather than a Linux one, as that will include all the users of openoffice.org, Mozilla, the GIMP, etc., on other platforms (plus the odd *BSD user) and maybe entice them along to an installfest. I can't imagine the number of existing GNU/Linux users is all that huge here, and one of the principle purposes of the group would be to change that. There are a couple of existing computer (ie. MS-Windows) users' groups here, a "seniors" club, and one connected to the local RSL. I've been to a meeting of the latter, and the members are as keen as mustard on both the philosphical angle and the technical side, but they do not speak terribly highly of the level of support they get from the RSL, and the consensus is that there's nothing really to be gained by operating as a SIG of that group. Any advice/assistance/personal abuse gratefully accepted. Matthew Davidson. Coffs Habour Area Free Software Users' Groups (CHAFSUG - yuck!) Coffs Harbour Area Free Software And Linux Users' Group (CHAFSALUG - hmm.) Free, Libre, and Open Source Software In Coffs Harbour (FLOSSICH - next!) ... -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
