[lug] (no subject)

[Wayde Allen]

                     Boulder Linux User's Group Meeting
                     ==================================

Where:   NIST Radio Building Auditorium, 325 Broadway, Boulder
         (If you want to arrive early, join us at the Dark Horse for a
          bite to eat around 5:30 P.M.)

Time:    7:00 P.M.

Date:    June 8, 2000

Presentation:  A Tour of Linux Distributions  

Speaker:  Elizabeth O. Coolbaugh,
          Co-founder of LWN.net, also known as the "Linux Weekly News"

Abstract:

The Linux operating system, spoken of so much recently, is composed of the
Linux kernel, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and a
great deal of additional software, licensed under a variety of "free/open
source" licenses.  Because it is freely available and redistributable,
there is no one vendor from which the operating system is purchased. 
Instead, any person, organization or company can choose to develop and
maintain a Linux "distribution", a specific set of software packages,
bundled with the Linux kernel. 

Some people are unaware of just how numerous and diverse Linux
distributions are.  Others fear that the availability of multiple
varieties of Linux will fracture the Linux market and keep vendors from
choosing to support it. 

In this talk, we'll examine the breadth and diversity of Linux
distributions, through well-known ones such as Red Hat, Slackware, Debian,
etc., to over a hundred lesser known ones.  We'll look at the reasons
numerous distributions have come into being and how to choose between
them.  Then we'll finish up with a look at the advantages and
disadvantages that the diversity of Linux distributions brings and what
the Linux community is doing to control the disadvantages while enjoying
the advantages. 

About the speaker: Elizabeth O. Coolbaugh is the co-founder of LWN.net,
also known as the "Linux Weekly News", an on-line magazine that has been
reporting on the Linux Community since January, 1998.  Ms. Coolbaugh has
worked in computer systems administrations since 1981, with Unix since
1985 and with Linux since 1997.