On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 06:24:56PM -0400, Karen Lewellen wrote: > Hi all, > Was going to mark this as off topic. then I realized it may be where many > of you engage with Debian. > Having a discussion on the board of the lug in my area. > someone feels lugs are largely failing. > Do you find this to be true? > If not, why not? To offer another perspective as Andy, I think they are not failing. They are plodding along, quietly. I've been living in Berlin for a while (the embarrasment of riches) and was part of a free software group which met regularly (the local FSFE supporters group). I still hold contact to them. I'd had the choice of two Linux user groups (which still are around), and lots of other cool initiatives (one of the stars: Topio (https://www.topio.info/) who help "ordinary" people install a free OS on their phone, and even help them find a used one to do that in the first place. Nowadays I'm back in Freiburg, a much smaller city, roughly 1000km farther to the South, and still meet regularly once a month in a local lug (which I helped found Way Back Then, before I left for Berlin, 30+ years ago, but that's another story). Granted, the meetings aren't as big as They Used To Be (TM), but they are still access points for people in need of help; over the years we've helped people install Linux or fix their Linux installation (we *are* their support network!). One of our members, as I found out recently is Linux kernel contributor. I had known him for years without knowing. For an impression of the life currently thriving beneath the layer of autumn leaves, one good example is the End of 10 initiative (https://endof10.org/). I'd say, at the moment we are like a mushroom. Most of the interesting stuff happens under the soil :-) Cheers -- tomás
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