Linux is sweeping the world - Los Angeles included. The many Linux User Groups in the Los Angeles area have a lot to offer. To find out more, join the mailing list of a nearby user group, drop by one of their meetings, or attend a special event like Demo Day or an Installfest. Pretty soon you, too, will be getting more out of your computer for less.
Friday - Sunday 25-27 February : SCaLE 9x. The ninth annual SCALE event will take place this coming February in Los Angeles, CA. This year the event moves to a new venue at the LAX Hilton hotel.
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See also linuxcalendar.com for a list of national and international events, courtesy of Linux Weekly News.
If you have an event you'd like listed here, or would like other group leaders to know about it, please post your announcement to the lalugs mailing list.
If you would like to give a presentation at one or more of the Linux or Unix User Groups in Los Angeles, please write speakers at lalugs.org (replace the word ' at ' with @ in the email address, of course). We will forward your note to the organizers.
Locations and times may vary, so check the individual group's site before attending! It's a good idea to subscribe to their mailing list; many groups post last-minute reminders.
An Installfest is an event where you bring your computer it, and experts help you install Linux on your computer for free (or nearly free). For more information about Installfests in general, visit installfest.org.
OCLUG has an Installfest as part of every meeting.
UCLALUG has an installfest once a quarter on a Saturday. The next installfest is October 6 2007.
LULA used to hold Installfests on the 4th Sunday of the month, but stopped doing this regularly when the Midnight Special bookstore closed.
Simi-Conejo LUG (S.C.L.U.G.) holds Installfests every other month.
Cerritos Linux User Group offers installation help at each meeting.
Special Interest Groups (or SIGs) are just that - groups of people who get together to explore in detail a single topic. They are often tied together by a mailing list, and are made up of people from more than one LUG.
Southern California Debian - a group of Debian developers and users.
LA Government LUG (LAGLUG) - people using Linux in local government organizations.
irc://irc.freenode.net/#lalugs -- Michael Elkins invites Linux users from Los Angeles (or who used to be from Los Angeles :-) to stay tuned to #lalugs at irc.freenode.net for ongoing socializing, no set time; he feels it's a shame we usually only get together once or so a month, may as well be a community the rest of the time, too.
irc://irc.freenode.net/#lilax -- Art Johnson invites LA Linux users to tune in Sunday evening for the weekly Lilax chat session at 8:00 PM or thereabouts.
irc://irc.freenode.net/#sclug -- Gareth Greenaway hosts an SCLUG chat session Wednesdays at 8:00 PM.
irc://irc.freenode.net/#avlug -- where AVLUG hangs out.
alias lilax="irc -c '#lilax' $USER irc.freenode.net"
alias lalugs="irc -c '#lalugs' $USER irc.freenode.net"
alias sclug="irc -c '#sclug' $USER irc.oftc.net"
alias avlug="irc -c '#avlug' $USER irc.freenode.net"
See also OCLUG's irc page.
Classes in Linux and Unix are now offered at several locations in Los Angeles.
The best list by far is at California Virtual Campus -- click "Students", then pick "Computer Information Systems" in the "Browse by Subject" menu, and search for "unix". It gives a list of online Unix courses from accredited colleges and universities in California. Cool!
worldwidelearn.com/linux.htm - links to free and nonfree online training materials about Linux and open source.
discussions on irc.debian.org - believe it or not, free classes on tools like screen, gnuplot, and gpg, taught online via IRC.
Antelope Valley College offers CIS157: Introduction to Unix.
Cal State Fullerton Extension offers certificates in Unix/Linux. Costs range from $400 to $800; classes seem to meet 5 to 15 times.
El Camino College, in Torrance, offers an Introduction to Unix class (CSCI-40).
Mt. San Antonio College has been offering Linux classes for several years.
North City Career Center, San Diego, offers five Linux-related courses: "Linux Operating System - Introduction", "Linux Programming with Bash", "Linux System Administration", "Linux - Apache Web Server", and "Linux Web Server Security".
Pierce College in Woodland Hills offers CS534 (Operating Systems), a course about Unix system administration.
Santa Ana College offers a UNIX Certificate which requires completion of six classes: Perl Programming / CGI, Programming Concepts, Unix OS, Unix Administration, Shell Scripting, and Unix System Programming.
Santa Monica College offers CS 40, Operating Systems, which contains an introduction to Unix. See the home page for a textbook CS40 has used, and the instructor's CS40 page.
UCLA Extension currently offers three Linux-related courses: "Introduction to Unix", "Intermediate Unix", and "Linux Networking Tools and Techniques" (which David Morgan took and liked in 2002).
North American Computer College in Glendale has a Linux Certified Administrator training program. See their schedule for dates.
The Linux Professional Institute offers standardized Linux skills tests. Tests are occasionally given at special events, but are normally offered at test centers throughout the area run by Pearson VUE and by Thompson Prometric. See their sites for details.
Foothill College offers several Unix courses.
If you know of more, please email us.
SOCALLUGS is another online resource which provides information on open source user groups and events here in the Los Angeles area.