Individual Membership FAQ

FAQ For Non-Members

  1. Where do I find discounts and benefits offered by becoming a member of the Linux Foundation?
  2. Does the Linux Foundation store my credit card information for the annual recurring charge of the membership dues?
  3. How can I check to see if my favorite linux.com email address is already taken before I sign up?
  4. My country is not listed in the drop down box, does this mean I can not join?
  5. When will my country be added to the Employer Purchase Pricing discounts?
  6. Is there a special student price for the lifetime email address?
  7. How do I contact the Linux Foundation about my individual membership (feedback, suggestions, invalid discount code, etc)
  8. When I fill out the "create new account" screen I get an error saying my email address is already registered and when I try to request a new password using the same address I get an error saying the email address is not found.
  9. Is there a way I can see what products I can get the EPP pricing on at Dell, HP, Lenovo?
  10. While completing the registration form to become a member, should I write my name and address in English?
  11. Can I pay by Paypal and not by credit card?
  12. I would like to offer a one year Linux Foundation membership to a friend of mine but I can't see any option to do that. It would be a great present for him. Can you help in some way?
  13. How do my dues support Linux? Specifically what does Linux Foundation do to protect, promote, and advance Linux.
  14. Are membership dues tax deductible?

FAQ For Existing Members

  1. If I don't renew, what happens to my linux.com address?
  2. I received a free student membership as part of the Give one Get one program. How do I renew?
  3. I'd like to manually renew and not have a recurring payment profile at Paypal. How do I cancel the recurring charge?
  4. Unfortunately I didn't read the membership agreement when I signed up and I didn't know there was a recurring annual charge as part of the membership agreement. I actually didn't want to be charged again for this next year of membership. Can I cancel my membership and get refunded for this most recent charge?
  5. I am getting an invalid promotion code for a member discount benefit.
  6. I canceled my recurring charge but got a 2 week notice saying my card would be charged.
  7. How do I set up my linux.com email address?
  8. I have let my subscription lapse and would like to renew now.
  9. Is there a way I can see what products I can get the EPP pricing on at Dell, HP, Lenovo? 
  10. Why do I see a $1.00 authorization from the Linux Foundation on my card. Why is the Linux Foundation charging me?

Non-Member FAQ Answers

  1. Where do I find discount and benefits offered by becoming a member of the Linux Foundation? You can learn about Linux Foundation Individual Membership benefits by clicking here http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/join/individuahttp://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/join/individual/discounts
     
  2. Does the Linux Foundation store my credit card information for the annual recurring charge of the membership dues? The Linux Foundation does not store your credit card information. The Linux Foundation uses the opensource project Ubercart and Drupal to administer registrations. Ubercart uses Paypal as the payment processing gateway. When you sign up as an individual member, a recurring Paypal profile is created on Paypal's servers to administer the annual recurring charge.
     
  3. How can I check to see if my favorite linux.com email address is already taken before I sign up? To prevent spam from bots to our members, we do not provide an online tool to check whether a certain alias is available. However, we would be happy to check on it for you if you email us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org.
     
  4. My country is not listed in the drop down box, does this mean I can not join? Please email us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org to let us know your country is missing and help you get set up with your membership. We are using the opensource Ubercart project for the sign up and new country local files are being added all of the time. We'll spread the word that your country needs to be added!
     
  5. When will my country be added to the Employer Purchase Pricing discounts? We are limited to the countries for which HP, Dell, and Lenovo have EPP plans available. As they expand their program to new countries, we add them to the matrix at the following link: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/join/individual/discounts.
     
  6. Is there a special student price for the lifetime email address? There is no special student price for the lifetime email address.
     
  7. How do I contact the Linux Foundation about my individual membership (feedback, suggestions, invalid discount code, etc) We'd love to hear from you. Please email us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org.
     
  8. When I fill out the "create new account" screen I get an error saying my email address is already registered and when I try to request a new password using the same address I get an error saying the email address is not found. The Linux Foundation uses a shared authentication back end to manage the logins for all of our properties including linux.com, linuxfoundation.org, video.linuxfoundation.org, etc. If you have signed up with any of our sites, you can log in directly without the need to re-register. If you have forgotten your password, requesting a password reset on the original site you registered with will reset it for you. If you need further assistance, email us at webmaster (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org
     
  9. Is there a way I can see what products I can get the EPP pricing on at Dell, HP, Lenovo? Unfortunately Dell, HP, and Lenovo do not provide advanced viewing of the EPP discounts available. Their sites require the email address and codes to see the discounted pricing.
     
  10. While completing the registration form to become a member, should I write my name and address in English? In order to ensure your membership is updated in our systems correctly, we kindly request all names and address be filled out in English.
     
  11. Can I pay by Paypal and not by credit card? Please email us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org to make a request.
     
  12. I would like to offer a one year Linux Foundation membership to a friend of mine but I can't see any option to do that. It would be a great present for him. Can you help in some way? Please email us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation (dot) org to make a request.
     
  13. How do my dues support Linux? Specifically what does Linux Foundation do to protect, promote, and advance Linux. The Linux Foundation does a variety of programs to promote, protect and advance Linux, including supporting the work of Linus Torvalds so he can remain neutral and focused on Linux. The Linux Foundation also administers the Linux trademark and offers legal programs to protect Linux and its developers from legal threats, as well as serving as the voice of Linux with press outreach, original research and web properties. For a full run down on all the things the Linux Foundation does for Linux please see this page http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about
     
  14. Are membership dues tax deductible? Because we are a 501(c)(6) organization, dues and contributions to The Linux Foundation are NOT deductible.
     

Existing Member FAQ Answers

  1. If I don't renew, what happens to my linux.com address? If you upgraded to the lifetime email address, your linux.com email address will continue to work, even after your annual membership expires. If you did not upgrade to the lifetime email address, the forwarding service will stop when your membership expires. We keep your linux.com email address on file for several months and do not "free" it up for others to use. However, after six months, we cannot guarantee that your old linux.com email address will not be in use by another member.
     
  2. I received a free student membership as part of the Give one Get one program. How do I renew? You may renew by purchasing the Student Renewal:http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/join/individual/renew-student-membership
     
  3. I'd like to manually renew and not have a recurring payment profile at Paypal. How do I cancel the recurring charge? Yes once you become a member you can log into www.linuxfoundation.org with the username you used when you signed up for your membership. Click on your username on the top right or click on "my account" to pull up the details of your profile. Click on the recurring tab. You will see an item noting your membership. Click cancel to remove the auto-reewal.
     
  4. Unfortunately I didn't read the membership agreement when I signed up and I didn't know there was a recurring annual charge as part of the membership agreement. I actually didn't want to be charged again for this next year of membership. Can I cancel my membership and get refunded for this most recent charge? We hope you want to stay with us as a member, however, we understand there are various reasons one may need to cancel. If you notify us within 30 days after your renewal that you didn't actually want to renew, we're happy to cancel your membership and refund the recurring membership fee that was just charged. Please request this to us at memberservices (at) linuxfoundation dot org
     
  5. I am getting an invalid promotion code for a member discount benefit. If you get an error when using one of the member discount codes please email memberservices@linuxfoundation.org and we will assist you promptly. Sometimes our discount codes expire with our partners and we just have to ask for a new one. 
     
  6. I canceled my recurring charge but got a 2 week notice saying my card would be charged.  Please email memberservices@linuxfoundation.org if this happens and we can confirm you account is set to expire. 
     
  7. How do I set up my linux.com email address? Log into www.linuxfoundation.org with the username you used when you signed up for your membership. On the right hand side, click on the Linux.com email address link. Then click member email alias and you can fill in the alias you want and the address you want your @linux.com email address to forward to. You can also access it directly here: >http://www.linuxfoundation.org/members/email-alias
     
  8. I have let my subscription lapse and would like to renew now. Please re-purchase individual membership here: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/join/individual/join. As long as you use the same user name to login with, your same profile will be associated with the new member including a preexisting linux.com email alias.
     
  9. Is there a way I can see what products I can get the EPP pricing on at Dell, HP, Lenovo? Unfortunately Dell, HP, and Lenovo do not provide advanced viewing of the EPP discounts available. Their sites require the email address and codes to see the discounted pricing.
     
  10. Why do I see a $1.00 authorization from the Linux Foundation on my card. Why is the Linux Foundation charging me? When you first sign up for membership, a 1.00 authorization may be authorized by Paypal to verify your credit card. (Authorization charges are also what hotels and gas stations use to test validity of a card). It is not a charge on your credit card, however, and the authorization will be removed after a certain period as determined by your Bank.