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civillian
December 27th, 2008, 05:55 PM
I was listening to the back catalog of LugRadio and they are forever banging on about how easy it is to get involved in the community (for any open source project)

Now I've been a user of Ubuntu (100% on my laptop and desktop) and despite not being a technical user (I can't code, although I'm a competent command line user) I was wondering what I could do to contribute to the ubuntu project.

People are always saying that anyone can get involved with packaging or documentation (either of which I think i could manage, documentation etc especially) but I don't know where to start or how to get involved with this aspect of ubuntu? Can anyone tell me where to go, who to talk to on irc etc?

Thanks
Civ

howefield
December 27th, 2008, 06:04 PM
Try here for starting ideas

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ContributeToUbuntu

namdung
December 27th, 2008, 06:04 PM
For starters u could help Ubuntu users with their issues in this an many such forums.

One important way u can get involved is alpha/beta testing of software. Even Ubuntu 9.04 is in alpha stage and ur valuable testing/feedback can help improve the final product.

http://sourceforge.net/ lists most FOSS projects. Pick the one ur interested and look for the details how u could get involved.

weblordpepe
December 27th, 2008, 07:39 PM
For starters u could help Ubuntu users with their issues in this an many such forums.

One important way u can get involved is alpha/beta testing of software. Even Ubuntu 9.04 is in alpha stage and ur valuable testing/feedback can help improve the final product.

http://sourceforge.net/ lists most FOSS projects. Pick the one ur interested and look for the details how u could get involved.

I might even go as far as saying that being in this forum itself is contributing :P People helping people on forums is extremely valuable.

dannytatom
December 27th, 2008, 07:43 PM
Another easy way to get involved is to submit bug reports for Ubuntu and all the software you use.

Dr Small
December 27th, 2008, 07:55 PM
Start out by helping beginners in the Absolute Beginner Talk, and supplying them with help. Begin to feel confident about it, and then hang out with the Beginners Team on #ubuntuforums-beginners @ irc.freenode.net. From there, you can request to join the Beginners Team.

Also, it really helps to spread out on the forum, such as helping in the "General Help", "Networking and Wireless", "Server Platforms", or whatever you specialize in. You will help others, learn, gain confidence and contribute to the community :D

civillian
December 28th, 2008, 05:32 PM
Thanks for th ehelp guys, I wanted to give something back to the community that made as computer savvy as I am now!

(I do hang out in beginners questions, but I hadn't got much idea about the irc channel :))

melt
December 28th, 2008, 05:47 PM
How do I get involved in the ubuntu community?

by completing a grueling initiation ceremony

andrew.46
January 3rd, 2009, 03:29 AM
Hi C!V!NT,


Thanks for th ehelp guys, I wanted to give something back to the community that made as computer savvy as I am now!

(I do hang out in beginners questions, but I hadn't got much idea about the irc channel :))

I note that you feel comfortable with the commandline in Ubuntu but you are a little unsure about irc. Well this is the perfect opportunity for me to pimp my guide for setting up irssi to connect to Freenode:

[Howto] Setup irssi and join #ubuntu on Freenode
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1010780

If you are interested in contributing to Ubuntu via the Beginners Team simply use #ubuntuforums-beginners along with #ubuntu. I look forward to seeing you there perhaps?

All the best,

Andrew

civillian
January 5th, 2009, 06:58 PM
Thanks for the help, I'll be checking out the IRC channels for sure :)