Hopefully anything you might think to ask about StaffsLUG can be found below. If you’re interested in our extensive 20+ year history then head over to our History page.
If you think we’re missing something on this this page or just have a question then please contact us.
When did this all start?
Staffordshire Linux User Group began 2nd March 1999 and was founded by Dave Roberts and Mark Leese.
What is a Linux User Group?
For a proper idea take a look at Wikipedia, but with our LUG it’s probably just easier to get a feel from the welcome on the front of our site. It’s really not any more involved beyond that as you might think!
Who runs this project?
Staffordshire Linux User Group has been a project of Function Office since 2016. The currently appointed project leader is Chairperson Steven Maddox since 2022. The process of choosing a potentially new project leader is carried around the beginning of each calendar year ready for each March as the LUG originally began in March 1999. Potential project leaders require their merits to be proven and recognised not just by the common consensus of the group, but also by Function Office. When a project leader is appointed they can enlist others to help them as part of a committee if they want to. This is similar to the meritocracy that many free and open source projects are known for, including the Linux kernel itself!
Who has been a project leader so far?
| Year(s) | Title and Name(s) |
| 1999 – 2006 | Co-LUGMasters Dave Roberts and Mark Leese |
| 2007 – 2010 | LUGMaster Dave Roberts |
| 2011 | Co-LUGMasters Adam Egan and Ben Skan |
| 2012 – 2015 | LUGMaster Adam Egan |
| 2016 – 2018 | Caretaker Steven Maddox |
| 2019 | Co-caretakers Richard Bateman, Mark Sherratt and Steven Maddox |
| 2020 | LUGMaster Richard Bateman |
| 2022 | Chairperson Steven Maddox |
What was a LUGMaster?
The definition of a LUGMaster is someone who leads any LUG. Often with many LUGs the term LUGMaster is used when they do this task single-handedly or with one other Co-LUGMaster. StaffsLUG has previously used this title, particularly from the beginning when Dave Roberts co-founded the LUG originally. He then hand picked his successor, as did they, and so on over the years… until it became a project of Function Office in 2016.
Why the relaunch in 2019?
Around 2013 things started to go quiet as people started to move away and little effort was going in to finding new faces and venues. This led to 2014-2018 being a period where the LUG was mostly dormant and only a handful of people keeping the effort alive, mostly just on the mailing list. In 2016 the LUG became a Function Office project and a quest began to find new faces and what they’d want in a LUG ready for a proper relaunch, which has since been a great success!
What is Function Office?
A locally based non-profit organisation dedicated both to open source/free software advocacy and also helping out with the IT needs of other non-profits. LUGMaster Adam Egan didn’t seek to continue to run the LUG in 2016 and just prior to stepping down he transferred the running and assets of the LUG to Function Office and its staff. You can find more information about Function Office on this website.
Where is all the content from previous sites?
We’ve got a copy of the information an older WordPress site had and we’ll be also looking at content even older sites had courtesy of the Wayback Machine. All of this content will find its way back on to this new site (dated roughly to when it was written). There are also some articles which were on a website never published during the more dormant years that will pop up too. If you have any content you think we’ve missed then it’d be great if you can contact us about it.
