A Linux User Group or Linux Users' Group (LUG) is a private, generally non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users. The term commonly refers to local groups that meet in person, but is also used to refer to online support groups that may have members spread over a very wide area and which do not organize, or which are not based around, physical meetings. Similar organizations such as FreeBSD User Group (BUG) exist, although many LUGs encompass FreeBSD and other free Unix-based operating systems.

Local LUGs

Local Linux User Groups meet (typically weekly to monthly) to provide support and/or arrange and host presentations for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users. Given that Linux is not dominated by any specific corporate or institutional entity, LUGs are more important for Linux users than other sorts of users' groups. Linux is predominantly user supported and some support is vastly easier via phone or in person than over e-mail or USENET. LUGs are still primarily focused on hobbyist users and professionals who are engaged in self-directed study.

SVLUG is among the oldest and largest LUGs. It was originally formed as a Special Interest Group for the Silicon Valley Computer Society, founded by Daniel Kionka to support Xenix and "low cost PC UNIX systems" (which later became focused on Linux as the dominant free implementation of Unix).

According to the Linux User Group HOWTO:

Computer user groups are not new. In fact, they were central to the personal computer's history: Microcomputers arose in large part to satisfy demand for affordable, personal access to computing resources from electronics, ham radio, and other hobbyist user groups. Giants like IBM eventually discovered the PC to be a good and profitable thing, but initial impetus came from the grassroots.

To give just one indication of how LUGs differ from traditional user groups: Traditional groups must closely monitor what software users redistribute at meetings. While illegal copying of restricted proprietary software certainly occurred, it was officially discouraged—for good reason. At LUG meetings, however, that entire mindset simply does not apply: Far from being forbidden, unrestricted copying of Linux should be among a LUG's primary goals. In fact, there is anecdotal evidence of traditional user groups having difficulty adapting to Linux's ability to be lawfully copied at will.

Typical activities

LUGs typically meet once per month in facilities freely provided by universities, colleges, community centers, private corporations, or banquet rooms in the backs of restaurants. For example, the SVLUG of the Silicon Valley met for about 10 years in the back of a Carl's Jr. restaurant, and has met for the last several years in meeting rooms at Cisco Systems and, more recently, Symantec. Similarly, the BALUG (SF Bay Area LUG) has always met in a banquet room above the Four Seas Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.