BLUG was started in 1998 by a small group of computer geeks in Bellingham, Washington who wanted to get off Windows and learn from local Unix gurus. Our focus is on Linux and all Open Source software.
We hold a presentation meeting the first Thursday of the month at Bellingham Technical College in Campus Center room 201 (CC201). On the third Wednesday, we hold an informal organization meeting with the time and location being Bellingham Makerspace (located in the Bellisfair Mall, next to Dicks Sporting Goods). We also put on special events including the regional LinuxFest Northwest in the Spring.
Next Meeting
Choosing a linux “distro”
01/21/2026 at 05:30 PM
There isn’t just one “Linux” operating system; the core Linux system and various bundles of user environments and applications are packaged as “distributions” (commonly called “distros”) by several different groups, companies, and non-profit organizations, each with different goals in mind. Depending on how you plan to use Linux (or your level of familiarity), one or another distro might be a good fit for you. Join us as we share some of the different things to think about when choosing a distro.
Past Meetings
BLUG meeting May 7th – Netbooks
05/30/2009 at 12:00 AM
Netbooks are a new low-priced, low-powered platform with most of the advantages of laptops, except being very low cost and even more portable. The presentation will go over standard hardware features, advantages and disadvantages of netbooks, and efficiently using Linux to make the most of the platform.
BLUG meeting Thurs Apr 2nd
03/30/2009 at 12:00 AM
This Thursday, April 2nd, at BTC, from 7pm-9pm is BLUG’s regular public meeting.
This month’s presentation will be on Openbox presented by James Sundquist.
“Openbox is a *box window manager that you can use either within or without standard desktops such as Gnome/KDE. Openbox uses fewer system resources and leaves you with a cleaner desktop. It appeals to both power users and those running ancient hardware.”
We will also have a little LFNW planning discussions as it is only 26 daze till LFNW!
Invite a friend
Mtg March 5th C++ templates, boost, make and cmake
02/26/2009 at 12:00 AM
Our next regular public BLUG meeting will be on Thursday,March 5th, from 7PM to 9PM, at BTC in Room D5.
We will have our regular agenda with a Linux News and a Q&A session.
This month’s presentation is titled: C++ templates, boost, make and cmake.
1. Mark Ashworth will introduce C++ templates using simple examples and the GNU compiler.
2. Charles Banas will introduce the boost library for C++.
3. Philip Walden will introduce make.
4. Charles will introduce cmake.
5. Question period with Philip and Charles will follow for those who need answers requiring extended discussion.
Also, Mark will have slides and ask people to write down any slide numbers they want to reload during the question period.
BLUG/LFNW DotOrg Meeting Tomorrow Feb12
02/11/2009 at 12:00 AM
BLUG’s DotOrg committee will be meeting at Mark’s from 7pm til 9pm tomorrow Feb 12th.
Agenda Items include:
BLUG’s next Regular meeting topic and LFNW planning
how compilers work, create a custom compiler
01/29/2009 at 12:00 AM
The next regular public BLUG meeting will be on Thursday,
February 5th, from 7PM to 9PM, at BTC in Room D5.
We will have our regular agenda with a
Linux News and a Q&A session.
Mike Titus will present on how compilers work
and how to create a custom compiler using a
lexical analyzer and a parser.
Learn how to create your own programming language!
See you there,
Bill
BLUG Holidaze party instead of meeting
12/27/2008 at 12:00 AM
BLUG’s regular First Thursday meeting will
not be held in January.
Instead we’ll be having our annual
Open Pizza Holidaze family party at
Rudy’s Pizza from 5pm til 8pm Sat Jan 3rd.
Rudy’s Pizza is located on State ST right next to the
YMCA on State and Holley ST.
BLUG’s buying the Pizza, you buy the refreshments.
Remember this is a BLUG Family affair so bring
spouse, kids, a friend or significant other.
BLUG mtg this Thursday, Dec4th,
12/04/2008 at 12:00 AM
Our next regular public BLUG mtg will be this
Thursday, Dec4th, from 7p til 9p, at BTC,
in room D5.
We will have our regular agenda with
Linux News and a Q&A session.
Carl will be presenting on some open source productivity tools,
not necessarily limited to KDE (or Linux, in some cases).
People are encouraged to talk about the applications
they use to work smarter.
BLUG Meeting Thursday Nov 6th
11/06/2008 at 12:00 AM
BLUG will have it’s next public meeting on Thursday Nov 6th, at BTC, in room D5,
from 7pm til 9pm.
We’ll have our regular Linux Q&A, Linux in the news, and presentation sessions.
Carl Symons and John Blanford will present on Vtiger CRM:
Customers are critical to the success of most organizations. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system consists of tools for effective customer contact–marketing, sales, customer service/satisfaction, trouble reporting/ticketing, and management capabilities.
Vtiger CRM is a 100% open source and free-of-charge CRM system. It is a web-based application that runs on a LAMP stack, and has an active user and development community.
This presentation covers technical information, installation, CRM concepts, and Vtiger operation.
Remember this meeting is open to the public. So, bring a friend and also encourage those you know who are just curious to attend.
BLUG DotOrg Committee mtg at Mark’s Tomorrow
10/08/2008 at 12:00 AM
Tomorrow, Thurs, Oct 9th, from 7pm til 9pm, at Mark’s, is the regular meeting of Blug’s DotOrg Committee.
BLUG meeting Oct 2nd
10/02/2008 at 12:00 AM
All BLUG meetings will be back to “normal”
in BTC’s room D5 and KNOT in Haskell building
until further notice.
Now that I have your attention, BLUG
will be having it’s next mtg. this Thurs., Oct 2nd,
From 7pm till 9pm, in room D5 at BTC.
Adrian and John will be presenting on:
“Computing in the Amazon’s Cloud
Cloud computing is new and, and often over used term, to describe the
use of computer resources as a service delivered over the Internet. One
of the leaders in Cloud Computing is Amazon, which offers a group of
services based on Linux and Xen.
We will talk about what different people mean by the term “Cloud
Computing”, go over the services offered by Amazon, and do a practical
example of creating an Amazon EC2 virtual server and connecting it to a
virtual storage device.”
We will as usual have our regular format, Q&A, Linux News,
install help, etc.
Bill