1) I attended a couple of meetings of my local user group, but I came away disappointed. The group was based at the local university so most of the members were in the academic community, and most of the topics struck me as either theoretical or impractical (writing diagnostic software, debugging statistical programs, etc.) I realize LUGs in bigger cities are probably more diverse and have a larger percentage of members from the "real world".

I did a quick scan of the Columbia SC yellow pages, but found no ads that mentioned Linux; there was a Mac specialist!

1 / 3) There is another LUG a couple of hours away, but since their URL included something like "windowssucks", I decided they were another group of evangelists trying to convert me.

Stupid question from the Linux-illiterate guy: do any of the major ISPs (either dial-up, cable, or DSL) support Linux? Most of these companies have CDs that do the installion for you, making it easy for the average non-technical home user. The software on these CDs usually requires Windows. Do any of the national ISPs offer something similar for Linux?

After you find your VC, alert us all when you go public.