I am the leader of the Linux Beginners SIG (Special Interest Group) of the Central Texas PC User Group. The LBSIG meets on the second Tuesday of each month at my home, 8109 Greenslope Drive, Austin. An informal discussion begins at 6 PM, and a formal presentation at 7 PM. Everyone is invited, even if you're not (yet) a member of the CTPCUG.
The emphasis of the SIG, as indicated by its name, is on introducing Linux to those who are not familiar with it or with Unix. No prior computer knowledge is assumed except the ability to move a mouse and click buttons under Windows. We try very hard to make Linux concepts non-intimidating. Check out my presentation on "What is Linux" for some basic concepts on the fast-growing, stable, and free alternative to being a slave of the Evil Empire.
If you have questions, please send me an email
(dierdorf@io.com).
Even better, the SIG has a mailing list, using the CTPCUG listserver;
go to their main page and
select "Listservers" to be added to the "LBSIG" discussion list. (This
works whether you are a member of the CTPCUG or not.) You'll receive
notification of upcoming meetings, as well as being able to observe or
participate in the back-and-forth of SIG activity.
Click here for a map of how to find the meeting.
Here are some reference materials from the April 11,2000 meeting. First, my notes extended from the presentation at the meeting. Second, the home page for FLOPPYFW itself, where there is more information than you could possibly need about the floppy firewall package.
This is the presentation I gave on June 10, 2003 on setting up a mixed Linux/Windows resource sharing network, using NFS and SMB protocols.
Here are a few URLs to get you started on finding Linux information on the web:
The Ubuntu home page has all the details on this completely free distribution.
Linux.com is almost the only site you need. It has news and links to just about everything else.
Linux Journal magazine. The first monthly magazine dedicated to Linux. Fairly technical, lots of questions and answers.
Linux Gazette. A free e-zine from the Linux Journal people. No overlap, and somewhat more technical than the magazine.
Linux Magazine. Another dead tree monthly; significantly less technical than Linux Journal. If you're a Linux beginner, subscribe to this one first. If you're a guru, it's probably too simple.
LinuxWorld. Another free e-zine, with some excellent articles. Austin's Joe Barr is a columnist.
Slashdot. "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters." A very active site of news references to all things techie, with (sometimes contentious) comments from readers.
Tucows Linux. A well-organized site containing over a thousand Linux shareware and freeware programs to download. Hundreds of KDE and Gnome themes to customize your desktop. This links to a shadow right here in Austin, so it is very fast.
Ars Technica, the technical resource for building or upgrading PCs. Lots of comparative reviews of CPUs, motherboards, drives, cases, etc. etc.
Killsoft Links. A site with a lot of mostly Linux-related links, some fairly advanced, compiled by Robb Romans here in Austin.
dierdorf@io.com John
Dierdorf, leader of the LBSIG.
president@ccaustin.org Gary Adair, president of the CTPCUG.