SepticPen ...

Recently i was just searching for  Open-source Freak groups other than VRLinug (We Are a LINux Users group - the best!) in Bangalore, and i came across BLUG which stands for Bangalore Linux users Group

The BLUG meets on the 4^th Friday of every month at 6:00pm at a place that is usually announced on their mailing lists , Anyone can attend a BLUG meet by paying a cover charge of Rs. 100 . 
and i went W-H-A-T??!!!!--  Isn't this this an Free-and-open-Source club? and you guys are charging??? lol
anyways they give cheap-skates like me plenty of answers for such  (stupid) questions.

SachiN: " No seriously! why do i have to pay??? 100 rupees???"
BLUG:"we hold our meetings in places where the quality and quantity of the food is very good, and where the cover charge also includes the cost of the hall." 

SachiN:"Will you take credit cards/cheques/etc.?" [ yea rite!,anyways... i am asking this question just to keep the conversation going and i couldn't think of a better query]
BLUG:"No. If you attend the meet, you are expected to pay the cover-charge. It isn't just for the food, as explained above - we also have to pay for other facilities at the meet (screen, microphones, etc.). We always pay more than is collected - so every little bit helps keeping things manageable.And in any case, we are charged for number of heads in the hall. If you are in the hall, we have to pay for you, whether you have paid or not. "

SachiN:"Ummm.. isnt this a Free-and-open source community???"
BLUG:" i don't think u understand what Free and Open source means!, it means that The source codes are provided freely over the Internet and the code is Open that mean u can make changes to it  with out paying anybody anything! prominent example are Free operating systems like Ubuntu  ,   free replacements for MS-Office like Open-Office by SunMicro etc.."

SachiN:"So... this is not a FREE .... 'free-and-open-source' community"
BLUG: " Why am i still talking to you??"

SachiN:"okay sorry ...sooo..er.......about this cover-charge for attending your 'meetings' ,are there any exceptions???"
BLUG: " YES

• Children whose ages add up to less than 10 years, come in free. If you have two children, one 6 years old and one 4 years old (total 10), you have to pay for one head. If you bring one child aged 9, she comes in free.

• If you have two heads, you will be charged for each head.

• If you are two-faced, you pay only for the one you are wearing at the meet.

• If you suffer from MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), you pay only for the dominant personality.

• If you are schizophrenic you pay, but your voices come in free."

LOL... no seriously they are darn creative! check it out

For info about BLUG can be found at http://linux-bangalore.org/blug/resources/covercharge.php
But i personally suggest VRLinug : http://www.vrlinug.org this is the largest and oldest student F/OSS communities in India or Bangalore i guess i am not sure

For more information about the  FREE and Open source Software movement please refer the following link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software



P.S:  FWD this to as many people as u want, lets spread the power of Free and Open source Software.