BSD user groups and meetups - killed off by Covid?

[BigSneakyDuck]

Local BSD user groups exist, or existed, all over the world: https://www.freebsd.org/usergroups/

But looking down that list, there are a lot of dead links these days! Were a lot of local groups and meetups finished off by Covid? Or have some of these contact details just got stale?

I did a bit of crowdsourcing on Reddit, and found enough confirmation to get five groups removed from the list as defunct (Ulm, UK, Manchester, Seattle, Jogja) and update the contact information for another. Also one reactivated group in Brazil turned up and will hopefully get reinstated to the list. https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/pull/660

The following groups in the list at least appear to have some kind of functioning web presence:

• Kansai *BSD User Association (K*BUG) https://www.kbug.gr.jp/workshops.html
• The Echigo BSD Users Group (EBUG) https://www.ebug.jp
• NYC*BUG https://www.nycbug.org/index.html
• Baltimore Area BSD Operating System User Group (CharmBUG) https://www.meetup.com/charmbug/
• Portland, Oregon https://www.bsd.pizza
• San Diego BSD Users Group (SDBUG) https://sdbug.org
• Bluefrogs e.V. Unix and Linux User Group in Bergisch Gladbach (near Cologne), Germany. Seems to have gone online only, has a forum with a little traffic. https://www.bluefrogs.de Description on FreeBSD website needs updating to reflect this!
• BSD User Group Düsseldorf/NRW https://bsd.nrw , Mastodon: https://bsd.network/@bsdnrw and Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/de-de/bsd-user-group-dusseldorf-bsd-nrw/
• Subcarpathian BSD User Group based in Rzeszow and targeting the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland: https://www.sbug.org and https://x.com/sbugpl
• Unix Users Group Rhein-Neckar e.V. (UUGRN e.V.) https://www.uugrn.org with meetings: https://stammtisch.uugrn.org and FIXME meetings: https://fixme.uugrn.org plus mailing list: https://mail2.uugrn.org
• The FreeBSD User Group France (FUG-FR) https://www.fug-fr.org
• Lissyara.su are a Russian FreeBSD community with an active forum. https://forum.lissyara.su
• Home Unix Users Group for Brisbane (active meetings and mailing list) https://www.humbug.org.au

Can anyone confirm what's happened to other groups?

I believe NYC*BUG played a coordinating role with some of the smaller BSD user groups and hosted their (now dead) websites. So perhaps someone there will be able to confirm whether those other groups have disbanded.

 

[Maturin]

I would not take COVID alone in account for many local user groups fall asleep. I would also blame the desocialization through social media. People meet more online theses days. It's more comfortable, but also way less fun.

 

[cracauer@]

bsdhh (Hamburg) is very much active. Not sure why it doesn't show up in the list. www.bsdhh.org

We lost out 30 year restaurant lately, though.

 

[mro]

may I add https://unix-freunde.mro.name - started last year in rural southern Bavaria.

 

[mro]

would you like a map like https://megalithicirelandmap.codeberg.page?
A requirement may be a scheduled upcoming meeting.

 

[BigSneakyDuck]

bsdhh (Hamburg) is very much active. Not sure why it doesn't show up in the list. www.bsdhh.org

We lost out 30 year restaurant lately, though.

It's still on https://www.freebsd.org/usergroups/ don't worry. My list above was incomplete.

The BSD User Group Hamburg (BSDHH) meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.00pm in the restaurant Léon (Koppel 1, 20099 Hamburg). Most members are FreeBSD users, although users of all BSD flavors are welcome. Located in Germany, Hamburg.

Does that need updating to meeting at "Restaurant Shanghai House (Borsteler Chaussee 110, 22453 Hamburg)"? https://www.bsdhh.org/bsdhh-de-treffen.html

 

[BigSneakyDuck]

may I add https://unix-freunde.mro.name - started last year in rural southern Bavaria.

That's great, having a website is very helpful! The official requirements are:

If you know of a FreeBSD user group not listed here, please fill out a problem report in category Documentation→Website with the following information:

1. A URL for the user group’s website.
2. An email contact address of a human in charge, for use by our visitors and website administrators.
3. A short (one paragraph) description of the user group.

In practice some groups use a social media account for the communication instead of an email contact.

Do you have a Bugzilla account so you can file a problem report at https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/ ?

Otherwise you can request an account but it isn't instantaneous.