title: Linux Users' Group of Davis
text: # Linux Users' Group of Davis
  
  Linux Users' Group of Davis (commonly known as LUGOD) is a users' group of students and faculty from the University of California, Davis, Information technology professionals from the Sacramento region, and hobbyists interested in Linux and free and open-source software. It holds regular meetings in Davis, California, and holds installfests on a regular basis. Its members participate with each other online in numerous mailing lists and via Internet Relay Chat.
  
  ## History
  
  The group was founded in early 1999 by Peter J. Salzman, Bill Kendrick, and about a dozen others, following a USENET posting in which Peter asked whether such a group existed in the Davis area. (Salzman and Kendrick held posts as president and vice president for most of the first five years of the group's existence.)
  
  ## Activities
  
  When possible, LUGOD participates in many activities, including hands-on demos, exhibit booths at events such as LinuxWorld Expo, classes, fundraisers, and organizing the formerly annual Linux picnic in Sunnyvale, California, together with other SVLUG and other groups.
  
  ## "Reasons to Avoid Microsoft"
  
  The LUG's website maintains a collection of news articles meant to help convince users to switch from Microsoft products.
  
  Eric S. Raymond linked to this collection in his famous response to Microsoft's eighth Halloween document.
  
  ## Notable speakers
  
  Despite its distance from the Silicon Valley, numerous notable speakers have presented at LUGOD, including:
  
  ### Individuals
  
  * Jeremy Allison
  * David Anderson of the SETI@home project
  * Donald Becker of Scyld Computer Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Penguin Computing
  * Steve Coast (founder of OpenStreetMap)
  * Chris DiBona
  * Asa Dotzler of Mozilla Foundation
  * Christian Einfeldt (producer of The Digital Tipping Point)
  * Jon "maddog" Hall
  * Carsten "Rasterman" Haitzler (creator of Enlightenment)
  * Leslie Hawthorn (Open Source Project Manager at Google)
  * Valerie Henson
  * Simon Horman
  * Chander Kant of LinuxCertified
  * Bill Kendrick (creator of Tux Paint)
  * Sam Lantinga (creator of Simple DirectMedia Layer)
  * Rasmus Lerdorf
  * Don Marti of LinuxJournal
  * Norman Matloff
  * Patrick McGovern of SourceForge
  * Sean Perry of Debian
  * Dave Peticolas
  * Kyle Rankin
  * Hans Reiser
  * Greg Roelofs from PNG
  * Lawrence Rosen of Open Source Initiative
  * Bill Saphir from Lawrence Berkeley Labs
  * Richard Wallace of the A.L.I.C.E. Artificial Intelligence Foundation
  
  ### Organizations and companies
  
  * Apple Computer
  * AMD
  * Borland
  * Cisco Systems
  * CodeWeavers (creators of CrossOver)
  * Electronic Frontier Foundation
  * Embedded Linux Consortium
  * Encore Technologies (creator of the Simputer)
  * Google
  * gumstix
  * Hitachi
  * Hewlett-Packard
  * IBM
  * Ingres
  * LynuxWorks
  * No Starch Press
  * Oracle Corporation
  * Silicon Graphics
  * Slim Devices
  * Sony Computer Entertainment
  * Sybase
  * SpectSoft
  * VA Linux
  