How can I contribute back?

[Logan513]

I am a programmer.
I can programme in Perl, C, and C++.

I have no idea what to do.
Every idea for software I could possibly imagine has already been created.
How can I contribute back to the Ubuntu community?
What applications have not been written for Ubuntu?

I am all out of ideas.
And I feel as though I have no purpose. :(

[audiomick]

Have a look here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate

if you haven't already

[Logan513]

I have. Although I still have no clue on to what applications that I can create to help the cause. I'm not good at anything else.

[fancypiper]

Why not join the dev team for an app you like or would like improved?


I'm not good at anything else.You never know what you are good with until you reach beyond your perceived limitations. Success comes from repeated failures.

[Logan513]

I would like a C++ development environment..... ;)

But I'm sure they already have those.... And I don't have a clue as to how to make a compiler.

[Logan513]

I'm not sure if bumps here are frowned apon but... Is it legal to use the GCC compiler?

[lisati]

One place to start might be to have a go at answering questions in the "Programming Talk" section of the forums.
Have a look here: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=39

[Physical Hook]

I'm not sure if bumps here are frowned apon but... Is it legal to use the GCC compiler?

Are you really a C++ programmer ? :neutral:

[fancypiper]

I'm not sure if bumps here are frowned apon but... Is it legal to use the GCC compiler?:lolflag: GCC (http://gcc.gnu.org/) is open source and open source is free and legal.:popcorn:

[Logan513]

Are you really a C++ programmer ? :neutral:

Yes.

@Fancy Piper - So your saying I could make a development environment and incorporate GCC into it so I don't have to make my own compiler? I will give credit, of course!

[Physical Hook]

Yes.

@Fancy Piper - So your saying I could make a development environment and incorporate GCC into it so I don't have to make my own compiler? I will give credit, of course!

:lolflag:

[ -- couldn't resist -- ]

[jollysnowman]

Instead of writing apps off the bat, try fixing bugs in existing apps and see if they get committed.

[fancypiper]

# What compiler version do I have installed
gcc -v
gcc --version

If you don't have the compiler installed, I believe you can just use this command:

sudo apt-get install gcc

[hoppipolla]

If it were me I would just get stuck in and help on any project that I thought was important in some way or that I particularly liked.

I use KDE, so I dunno I guess I would be looking at KDE itself, Amarok, Qt, Kopete... KDM. Also some more core OS elements seem to need a bit of attention such as GRUB 2. It might be a good idea just to chat with the devs of a project you like, and see what they say :)

Open Source is so modular that you can be an part of a small group and have a potentially large effect on the whole :)

Oh, another good project to look at might be Empathy :)

[Greg]

Out of curiousity, what have you wrote?

[Frak]

Out of curiousity, what have you wrote?
Aye

[JDShu]

@Fancy Piper - So your saying I could make a development environment and incorporate GCC into it so I don't have to make my own compiler? I will give credit, of course!

Wow... if you could make your own compiler, I dunno whats stopping you from taking over the world.

[Chris Edgell]

Why don't you focus on the absolute beginners board and help people out for awhile till you get your bearings here?

[Frak]

Why don't you focus on the absolute beginners board and help people out for awhile till you get your bearings here?
Not everyone is cut out for support. If they're a valuable developing asset, let them develop.

[Chris Edgell]

Maybe I'm the cynic. Why do I feel played.

Let me bow out before I embarass myself (again)

[Frak]

Maybe I'm the cynic. Why do I feel played.

Let me bow out before I embarass myself (again)
Are we breaking into song?

[u.b.u.n.t.u]

I am a programmer.
I can programme in Perl, C, and C++.

I have no idea what to do.
Every idea for software I could possibly imagine has already been created.
How can I contribute back to the Ubuntu community?
What applications have not been written for Ubuntu?

I am all out of ideas.
And I feel as though I have no purpose. :(

Welcome to the Ubuntu community. I like your sense of sharing.

[fancypiper]

@Fancy Piper - So your saying I could make a development environment and incorporate GCC into it so I don't have to make my own compiler? I will give credit, of course!You may have the gcc installed already. Try these commands in an x terminal:
# What compiler version do I have installed
gcc -v
gcc --version

[ankspo71]

Hi Logan513 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=976027),

If you are looking for any random ideas, I could throw some your way...

How about an equalizer that will would work with the popular sound servers (alsa, pulseaudio etc)? I don't know it that would be possible, but it would be nice to have.

How about a metalink downloader? It would be used for those metalink files that ubuntu's mirrors provide to download ubuntu releases. It would save a load of bandwidth off any particular server, almost as good as torrents do. I use "Retriever Download Manager" but it runs on java. http://www.halogenware.com/software/retriever.html . Info on metalinks is here http://www.metalinker.org/ .

How about a nice sandbox type of program so some of us software compilers have a nice tidy way to remove software that doesn't come with an uninstaller. That would help eliminate the installed dependencies too. There could be dozens of other uses for it too (such as when some people surf the net using Wine+IE lol). Here's one that I liked for uninstalling software on a windows machine... "Total Uninstall v2.35" http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/util/uninst.html

How about a file mirror searcher. Say I wanted to download something hard to find, or something with an incredibly slow download rate. I would like a single app search the top search engines (and site searches) for me, then display the results in a single window. Something like that would be nice for searching for torrents too, or both.

Hope this helps,
James

[Chris Edgell]

DO IT ANYWAY

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous;
Be happy anyway
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow,
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

This is a reminder to myself, NOT to be so skeptical. Logan, I wish you well, I hope to see you around.