Greetings

[mark at buttery.org (Mark J. Dulcey)]

Martin Owens wrote:
> Dear BLU,
> 
> I have recently moved from the London (UK) to Boston (USA) and have
> been looking around for a linux user group, at first I thought blu was
> a purely academic group being centered around MIT.
> 
> But there doesn't appear to be any other linux user groups in boston;
> so firstly is this group open to the general public? attend meetings
> and so forth? and if so secondly how do I join?

Although BLU meets at MIT, it is not a purely academic group. We meet at 
MIT because the university is very generous about allowing its space to 
be used by outside groups, and because it is centrally located, offers 
free parking, and is easily reached on the T. Having a nearby brewpub 
for the after-meeting festivities doesn't hurt either.

BLU was originally the Linux/Unix Special Interest Group of the Boston 
Computer Society. When the BCS folded in the mid-90s, BLU continued as 
an independent user group. Participation has always been open to 
everybody; in theory, we were supposed to check for BCS membership back 
in the day, but enforcement was minimal.

There is no formal membership in BLU. Everyone is welcome to subscribe 
to the mailing list, and to show up for as many meetings and other 
activities as they like. We have monthly tech meetings at MIT, 
installfests at MIT and other locations, an annual summer barbeque, and 
occasionally other stuff. We have exhibited at LinuxWorld Expo for the 
past two years, now that the show has moved to Boston, and will likely 
be there again this year.

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