Dear ___ (HP, IBM, Dell, Sun, Gen-i)

Waikato Linux Users Group (WLUG) would like to ask if your firm would consider sponsoring the WLUG through providing a server for our use.

WLUG is a Linux support and advocacy group for the Waikato region and is a publicly incorporated society. We have a formal membership of approximately 50 people however our meetings and resources are open to all and serve a much larger community. WLUG has approximately 12 public meetings a year, runs an installfest for new Linux users and provides general support and discussion through a mailing list. WLUG also runs a public website and Wiki at http://www.wlug.org.nz/

This Wiki is hosted on our current server which is composed of many second hand parts which were donated by WLUG members and average over five years in age. These parts are now starting to fail. The hardware is currently a Dual Celeron 400 MHz, 256 MB RAM and a 20 GB hard drive. The unreliability of this hardware and the performance constraints of the server are preventing us from upgrading to the latest version of our Wiki software.

Since WLUG's inception the use of the website has continued to grow. The website now averages one million hits per month. The Wiki is the most complete Linux Wiki in New Zealand and is of a world class standard. It is frequently used by visitors from around the world and is highly ranked by search engines such as Google.

In return for your sponsorship we would be happy to recognise your firm on the page http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugSponsors which is referenced at the bottom of every Wiki article. WLUG will also mention your sponsorship at our public meetings. Your firm would also be welcome to mention your sponsorship of WLUG publicly, not to mention the feeling that your firm is continuing to support the open source community.

All new content on the Wiki, and most historical content, is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

To handle the current workload and allow some room for future growth we are looking for a machine with at least 1GB of RAM, dual hard drives and housed in a 1 or 2U rack mount case. Of course we would much appreciate the sponsorship of any machine that exceeded these specifications as well!

The vast majority of our income comes from membership fees of around $1000 per annum. As such the purchase of a server would be a major undertaking for our organisation, which is why we are asking your firm for sponsorship.

If you wish to discuss this further please feel free to contact the following people:

 Lindsay Druett,
 President,
 021 92-90-92
 Lindsay@fx.net.nz

 David Hallett,
 Vice-President,
 021 802 256,
 David@pulsar.net.nz

 Craig Box,
 Secretary,
 021 475 869,
 craig@itpartners.co.nz

 Ian McDonald,
 Treasurer,
 021 175 1126,
 imcdnzl@gmail.com

Thank you for your time,

Person Name on behalf of the Waikato Linux Users Group, Inc.