Welcome

Come join us all year long in 2026 as we celebrate 30 years of Linux in Jacksonville, the 30th anniversary of the JaxLUG, the Jacksonville Linux Users Group!

The Jacksonville Linux Users' Group, otherwise known as the JaxLUG, is a community users group comprised of a diverse group of local Linux users in the greater Jacksonville, Florida metropolitan area, ranging from beginners, home users, systems administrators, developers, and IT professionals to general Linux and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technology enthusiasts; backed by the Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc, please see our legal page for more information.

The JaxLUG exists to add value to members by attracting leading technology professionals to present on innovative Linux development methodologies and technologies. North Florida Linux users of any kind are welcome!

Discord

To get to know the group become a member of the JaxLUG, join our Discord Server, or participate in our Monthly Meetings!

We have a JaxLUG Discord server available for a variety of uses. If you are new to Linux, come and join us, we seek to answer all your basic questions, and of course, anyone not new to Linux is welcome in the JaxLUG Discord server as well. In the JaxLUG discord server you can meet people with various interests and backgrounds, who are all passionate about Linux in some form or another. Come learn or geek out about a Linux topic of interest and join a discussions in our brand new JaxLUG Discord Server.

About

The JaxLUG, originally started by Daniel Stringfield in 1996 and rebooted in 2025, yes, every now and then even Linux must reboot; clean home directory, clear cache, remove legacy cruft, and replace with new! You are welcome to be part of what is next for the JaxLUG, we are seeking to fulfill new roles on the JaxLUG board and officer positions. The Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc. has a number of open legal positions as we work towards proper legal structure and long term stewardship. If you would like an official legal role and title with the Jacksonville Linux Users Group, the JaxLUG, then get in touch with us by sending an email with your Linux qualifications, reasons for consideration, and position desired to admin@jaxlug.ngo.

We are presently conducting a public review of draft bylaws to be adopted and filed with the State of Florida once approved by the membership; no set cut off date. If you have feedback, ideas, suggestions or critique, please open an issue using the subject as the topic and voice your concerns. This is your chance to shape the future direction of the JaxLUG! As a proper and legal non-profit, students can receive college credit for charitable volunteer efforts in presentations, and also, institution and professor approved projects. Stay tuned for more!

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc represents the Jacksonville Linux Users Group™, dba JaxLUG™, in executing contracts, license agreements, copyrights, trademarks, and other legal arrangements which require a recognized legal entity. It owns the JaxLUG trademarks, and protects JaxLUG IP. See our legal page for more information using the JaxLUG IP.

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc. has a number of open legal positions as we work towards proper legal structure and long term stewardship.

Financial

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc is a properly formed 501c3 Non-Profit Corporation including finances. For more information on our financial activities, please see our financial page, which will eventually feature our expenses and provide full public transparency into our non-profit activities.

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group Inc. has variety of plans for financial expenditures, including but not limited to, grants for members to obtain certifications, hardware for underprivileged, and other usage of charitably donated funds for the advancement of Linux education in Jacksonville Metro and North East Florida. Ability to sponsor and hosts events such as install fests, bug fixing, and other events the community may elect to hold. There are really many possibilities, and we are just planting the seeds for future growth!

Donations

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group is a Florida Non-Profit, 501(c)(3) under IRC, which will take 5 years to receive permanent status from the IRS, but, in the meantime, anyone can now do tax-deductible donations to the JaxLUG! Donations are handled through our partner Give Lively. Presently, the money will be used for administrative purposes, legal filings, trademark, domain, etc. In the future, as the JaxLUG's resources grow, these funds will be allocated by the JaxLUG board to benefit the Jacksonville, Florida, Metropolitan area to foster the education and usage of Linux!

Sponsors

The Jacksonville Linux Users Group is a Florida Non-Profit, 501(c)(3) under IRC, and is actively seeking sponsors of any kind, be it food, monetary, or venues. This sponsorship will be tax-deductible! If your business, employer, or company would like to sponsor the JaxLUG in any form, please reach out! Sponsors will be acknowledged and advertised on our website and other media with links to the sponsor.

Presently, sponsor (donor) payments are handled through Give Lively and/or Stripe, and we will be producing various sponsor levels and packages.


JaxLUG Meetings

At this time, official Jacksonville Linux Users' Group™, JaxLUG™, meetings are on hold until we secure a permanent meeting location for 2026 and beyond and/or elect to stop meeting in person and just meet virtually for maximum accessibility. This will be discussed by members. Hopefully, presentations will resume in January, or as soon as a location is secured and presenters lined up!

We will be looking to fill the 2026 calendar with presentations as much in advanced as possible!

Be the Presenter

We welcome and encourage anyone, be it local, outsider, hobbyist, professional, student, or other Linux enthusiast, to be a presenter at any of our monthly meetings, with a topic of their choosing, or one the group has requested. Simply provide a Title and a Synopsis of the presentation to a board member or officer of the JaxLUG, at this time, we will be working on other ways to formalize the presentation application process. Please, provide at least one month notice for us to confirm and add the presentation Title and Synopsis to our calendar.

For students, this is a great way to meet state requirements on public presentations and looks better on your resume than in-class presentations. Students are HIGHLY encouraged to present!

Meeting Format

New Meeting Location for all of 2026 and potentially 2027 and beyond in the works! Stay tuned!

Next Meeting

Official Jacksonville Linux Users Group, JaxLUG, meetings are suspended as of September 2025. Another informal group may elect to meet, but that group should not be confused with the Jacksonville Linux Users Group, Inc. dba JaxLUG. There is only one JaxLUG! Please do not confuse the two groups! The JaxLUG has legal authority and status please see our legal page, the other one does not exist legally, is committing fraud, and is infringing on IP!

Official meetings will resume again in 2026, and will be announced ASAP. Stay tuned!

Meeting History

If you are interested in some of our older meetings and presentations you can visit our Meeting History for a chronological list of past meetings. Some of the presentations will be linked to the YouTube channel for the corresponding recorded presentation.

To view previous recorded presentations please visit the youtube channel: Unofficial JaxLUG Youtube channel


JaxLUG History

The JaxLUG has a long history, and history must be learned from or it will be repeated. While the JaxLUG has survived for going on four decades, it is not without controversy and issues that are the motivation and reasoning behind the recent legal changes and forthcoming structural changes. To learn about how the JaxLUG got here, we are creating some pages to cover some of the pivotal moments in the JaxLUG history.

We aim to cover the good not just the controversial, and please feel free to open issues with any suggestions and/or corrections.

Community

The past unofficial Jacksonville Linux Users Group has rich history of people spanning several decades with both newbies and old-timers with various community histories, and history must be learned from or it will be repeated. These pages are not intended to disparage nor praise anyone, they are simply presenting facts of people's conduct in the community, and the resulting impact upon the community from their conduct and actions, and at times, lack of action. For further information please see the Unofficial Community page.

Please see the Unofficial Community Leadership page for more information on past leadership including a table of past leaders from 1996 to 2025.

JaxLUG.org Story

We are in the process of recovering the lost JaxLUG.org domain name. The JaxLUG.org recovery page details the work that has been done, and what remains to be done, along with progress updates. In the mean time, read The Story of How JaxLUG.org was lost!

JaxLUG.net Story

Learn the history behind the JaxLUG.net domain name, read The Story of JaxLUG.net came about! Covering the history of the 2013 JaxLUG Coup d'état, the resulting mess spanning years. Forking and killing the mailing list, the heart of the JaxLUG for 2 decades, followed by years of losing the wiki, data, and even losing JaxLUG.org domain name, making JaxLUG.net domain name the last one remaining, but never by intention, and never the official domain!

Website Story

Learn the history behind the JaxLUG website's, which have been numerous over the years, and become a complete mess in recent years. Read the JaxLUG Website Story!