About TLUG

The Tokyo Linux Users Group is a non-profit, non-political volunteer organization that seeks to

1. spread the use of Linux in Japan,
2. provide quality information on Linux related technology to its membership, and
3. serve as a gateway between the Japanese Linux community and the rest of the Linux world.

History

• June 16, 1994: establishment of a Linux conference on a local ISP by Jim Tittsler. The beginning of TLUG.
• September 1994: first physical meeting at Ed Harter’s house. Over large quantities of Mexican food and a couple of beers, the name Tokyo Linux Users Group (TLUG) is decided upon through voting.
• September 1994: Craig Oda begins TLUG web site
• 1994: Nori Nishigaya sets up the first mailing list on his Linux box called Metanoia.
• July 9, 1995: Craig moves mailing list to his ISP after Metanoia crashes. Digest is created and both the list and digest are archived for public access. All data is backed up on tape. :-)
• 1996: Jim Schweizer becomes first official TLUG Webmaster
• October 1997: first election of club officers.
• March 1998: TLUG gets its own server compliments Pacific High Tech

Joining TLUG

If you join the mailing list or one of the chat groups, you’re considered a member. There are no membership dues or fees, and there are no plans to change this in the foreseeable future. Anyone is free to show up for the meetings or parties and to leave at any time. We try to get a listing of attendees prior to the meeting date so we can make reservations, but if someone has free time at the last minute, feel free to drop by.

Language hasn’t been a problem. Japanese and English have been mixing smoothly, with pockets of Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.

If you can’t make it to Tokyo, you can still join and participate online.

Meetings and Activities

• Technical meetings — held on the second Saturday of every odd month, with presentations, talks, and demos.
• Nomikai — social meetings held in every even month. The social interaction, beer, and food is an excellent way to create a stronger Linux community spirit.
• Auctions and prizes — TLUG negotiates donations from corporations and individuals and distributes software and hardware to the membership. TLUG has given out stickers, Linux distributions, Linux Journals, Sparc hardware, PCs, keyboards, T-Shirts, monitors, books, and a lot more.

See the meetings page for upcoming events.

Organization

TLUG is loosely structured. If you want to volunteer, don’t be shy — we can use your help. TLUG welcomes members who want to volunteer for any position: you can help as much or as little as you want, and all contributions are valuable.

Current Officers

Elected

• President — Edward Middleton
• Vice President — open
• Treasurer — Tim Meggs

Appointed

• Sysadmin — Henri ‘ragga muffin’ Servomaa
• Listmaster — Josh Glover
• List Moderators — Scott Robbins, Jonathan Byrne, Godwin Stewart
• Webmaster — Alain Hoang, Keith Bawden
• Wikimaster — Alain Hoang

Job Descriptions

Listmaster

The duties of the Listmaster, in order of decreasing importance, are as follows:

1. Ensure that the mailing list is receiving and delivering mail.
2. Ensure that the list archive is functioning correctly and linked appropriately from the main site.
3. Moderate the mailing list, keeping discussions on-topic, polite, and useful.
4. Keep our List Policy documentation up to date and clearly stated.
5. Document the current mailing list mechanism, with an eye on improvements.
6. Handle automatic deferrals of list-bound mail and sort the spam from the ham.

List Moderators

The duties of the List Moderators are as follows:

1. Moderate the mailing list, keeping discussions on-topic, polite, and useful.

Helping Out

TLUG is always looking for volunteers for both club administration and for various projects — organizing meetings and parties, expanding membership, and soliciting corporate donations. If you are interested in any open position, volunteer on the tlug-admin mailing list.

Remember, helping out others on the mailing list with technical questions is helping the Linux community in general. If nothing interests you at the moment, join the mailing list and say something like, “I want to volunteer for something.”

Organization Information

Although TLUG is non-profit, it is not officially registered as an organization. If anyone wants to register TLUG, feel free to volunteer to lead the effort.

TLUG’s expenses are met by donations from members and companies, including computer hardware and software which is auctioned off at technical meetings.