Editing WPLUG:About

WPLUG is the Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.  The official founding of the group is dated to September 26, 1997 at 11:37:08 EDT.

We are a not-for-profit organization that provides collaboration resources (including [[MailingLists|mailing lists]] and this very wiki), presentations, and [[InstallFest|installfests]], for Linux users of all backgrounds.

Experienced Linux users are welcome; curious persons wanting to see what Linux is all about are welcome -- There are no requirements to join our lists. However, the discussions will be oriented to Linux and other Free and Open Source Software.

Most of our members are from the local area, but we do have list participants from far-flung locations.

WPLUG is ultimately governed by its membership, but the [[WPLUGBoard|Board of Directors]] handles most day-to-day activities, with help from various [[Committees|committees]].

You can contact us by e-mailing [mailto:info@wplug.org info@wplug.org].

"Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group" and "WPLUG" are service marks of the Western Pennyslvania Linux Users Group, an unincorporated association.

==What is Linux?==

Linux is a ''kernel'', the core of a computer operating system, created by [[Wikipedia:Linus_Torvalds|Linus Torvalds]]. It is typically packaged as a ''[[Wikipedia:Linux_distribution|distribution]]'', which includes the extra programs necessary to make a computer functional and useful. Since 1991, it has grown from a one-man project which ran on one computer to one with thousands of contributors running on everything from cell phones to million-dollar supercomputers.

==What are Open Source and Free Software?==

Open Source and Free Software provide you, the user, with the opportunity to see the source code of the programs you use. You are free to use it, share it with others, and even make changes to it if you wish. While the [http://www.gnu.org/ Free Software] and [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source] communities differ in their philosophical approach, in practical terms they share nearly identical goals.

==Resources==
These links are to external sites with useful information about Free and Open Source Software.  Please feel free to add more by [{{FULLURL:Wplug:About|action=edit}} editing] this page.

===Desktop Distributions===
The following are the "big three" distributions that seem to be most widely used in the US for the desktop.
* [http://www.ubuntu.com/ Ubuntu] (and its [http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/derivatives variants])
* [http://www.fedoraproject.org/ Fedora]
* [http://www.opensuse.org/ openSUSE]

===News===

* [http://www.linuxjournal.com/ Linux Journal] - monthly e-magazine plus web articles
* [http://www.linuxtoday.com/ Linux Today] - a high-volume newswire site
* [http://ostatic.com/ OStatic] - original commentary and reviews
* [http://lxer.com/ LXer] - a community-driven news aggregator with some original content and forums
* [http://distrowatch.com/ Distrowatch] - focuses on distribution releases; their [http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=current weekly roundup] often has nice feature articles
* [http://lwn.net/ Linux Weekly News] - more technically-focused, but also has event news

===Help Sites===

* Probably the best place to start is the discussion forum or mailing lists for your distribution of choice
* [http://www.linuxquestions.org/ LinuxQuestions.org] covers all distributions and is a major hub for users helping users
* You can also try the WPLUG [[MailingLists|mailing lists]]

==Other Groups/Events==
These are not necessarily Linux, but are groups or events that WPLUGers may also be interested in.  Please feel free to add more by [{{FULLURL:Wplug:About|action=edit}} editing] this page.

===Groups===

* [[Commission to Reform WPLUG]] - An informal group created to draft proposals that fix long-standing problems in WPLUG. 
* [http://pghrb.org/ Pittsburgh Ruby Brigade] - focusing on the increasingly popular Ruby programming language, meets first Thursday of the month
* [http://cpusergroup.apcug.org/ CPUser Group] - general computer user group, meets second Tuesday of the month
* [http://pacc.apcug.org Pittsburgh Area Computer Club] - one of the oldest computer user groups in existence, meets third Sunday of each month.  Mostly Windows-oriented, but not exclusively.
* [http://www.hackpittsburgh.org/ Hack Pittsburgh] - a community workshop with a strong focus on hardware/mechanical stuff
* [http://groups.drupal.org/pittsburgh-and-southwestern-pa/ Pittsburgh and Southwestern PA Drupal User Group] - for fans of the popular open-source web content management system
* [http://snapgh.com/ SNAPGH | System & Network Administrators of Pittsburgh] - A local LOPSA chapter
* a [http://www.pghtech.org/networks/user-groups.aspx list of many local user groups] maintained by the Pittsburgh Technology Council

===Events===

* [http://www.pghgeeks.org/ Pittsburgh Geek Night] - bimonthly gathering for beer and conversation - Church Brew Works, Lawrenceville
* [http://www.ohiolinux.org/ Ohio LinuxFest] - annual major Linux conference - Columbus, Ohio
* [http://pghpw.org/ Pittsburgh Perl Workshop] - annual Perl conference - Carnegie Mellon University, Oakland
* [http://devhousepgh.org/ DevHouse Pittsburgh] - occasional eclectic gathering to foster cross-pollination among local developers - location varies