From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
locals
The users on one's local network (as opposed, say, to people
one reaches via public Internet or UUCP connections). The
marked thing about this usage is how little it has to do with
real-space distance. "I have to do some tweaking on this mail
utility before releasing it to the locals."
(1994-11-29)