Bangalore Linux User Group

The Bangalore Linux User Group is probably India's biggest Open Source group.

Formed in 1997, it jumped into the public eye with its participation at Bangalore IT.COM '99 - then India's largest and most prominent technology event. The Government of Karnataka, correctly guessing that Linux and Open Source would play a major role in the years to come, gave the BLUG an entire pavillion of its own, where it exhibited Linux-based machines showing various applications, under the motto "Seeing is believing". This participation was a huge success, drawing people's attention to the then-nascent operating system, and earning the pavillion the title of "Crown Jewel of Bangalore IT.COM".

Over the years, the BLUG participated in a number of technology events, and in 2001 facilitated India's largest Open Source event - Linux Bangalore. Linux Bangalore/2001 (and its sequels - Linux Bangalore/2002 and Linux Bangalore/2003), broke ground for the growing Linux and Open Source community in India, seeing participation by thousands of delegates from india and abroad.