If you want to help shape and improve Ubuntu, there is a lot of ways to help out!

If you only have a little time, please see EasyWaysToHelpUbuntu for how to help Ubuntu in 30 minutes or less!

Contents

  1. Go Local!
    1. Convert Friends
    2. LoCo teams
    3. Translation
    4. Marketing
  2. Help others with Ubuntu
    1. Accessibility
  3. Write Documentation
    1. Edit the Wiki
  4. Create Artwork
  5. Testing and Bug squashing
    1. Software Testing
    2. Hardware Testing
      1. General Testing
      2. Laptop Testing
      3. Server Testing
  6. Maintain Ubuntu
    1. Contributing to the Universe Repository (MOTU)
    2. Contributing to the Main Repository
      1. Desktop Team
      2. Kubuntu Team
      3. Server Team
      4. Laptop Team
      5. Kernel Team
      6. X Swat Team
  7. Write Code
  8. Giving Ideas and Feedback

Go Local!

Chances are that you are not the only person in your city, region or country who is using Ubuntu. You can help to make Ubuntu better for people in your area by helping out local Ubuntu users or translating the Ubuntu software and documentation to your local language.

Convert Friends

Converting friends to use Free formats, Free software, GNU/Linux, and of course, Ubuntu is something that you should know how to do properly. It is of course a very effective way of getting Ubuntu out to more people but you must be careful of your actions not only to increase your rate of success, but to prevent any problems that could damage your, or Ubuntu's, image.

LoCo teams

if you want to meet other Ubuntu users in your area, you should look for a Local Ubuntu Community team (LoCo team for short) to join. There are LoCo teams spread out all over the world, and you can find a list of all of them here. If there isn't a LoCo team near you, you can start a new one! Just follow the instructions on the wiki.

Contact:

Translation

If your home language is not English but you happen to have really good English skills and are comfortable using software in English, you help to translate the Ubuntu applications and documentation into your native language. Ubuntu uses the web-based Rosetta translation system which makes it easy to translate Ubuntu applications into your language.

Contact:

Marketing

If you want to help promoting and marketing Ubuntu in a more general and coordinated effort than just through your local community team, you can join the Ubuntu Marketing Team which coordinates a number projects including a community-run Ubuntu magazine to spread awareness of Ubuntu.

Contact:

Help others with Ubuntu

You can make a major contribution to the Ubuntu project by helping others use Ubuntu. There are four main community support channels where you can help out other Ubuntu users by answering questions and referring them to relevant documentation:

NB: If you prefer to help other Ubuntu users in another language than English, please refer to the LoCoTeamList for info on local language support options where you can help out.

Accessibility

If you are interested in making Ubuntu and its derivatives usable by as many people as possible across ages, language and physical abilities, you can help the Ubuntu Accessibility Team with improving the accessibility support on the Ubuntu platform and the software that runs on it.

Contact:

Write Documentation

If you get stumped by a problem with Ubuntu, chances are good that many other people will be frustrated by it as well. If you are not currently able to write code to fix the problem, you can help everyone else out by writing up your experience and documenting the solution! All documentation and help pages in Ubuntu are written by volunteer community members gathered in the Ubuntu Documentation Team.

Contact:

Edit the Wiki

You can spell check, edit or write the pages of the Ubuntu wiki. The better and more accessible the information in the wiki is, the easier it will be for people to use. You can find a list of pages in need of editing on the WikiToDo page. The Wiki is maintained by the Wiki Team - a group of active wiki contributors that edit and clean up the main Ubuntu wiki according to a community-maintained Styleguide.

Contact:

Create Artwork

If you have artistic talent, you can help improve the style and feel of the Ubuntu desktop by contributing to the artwork and design of the next release of Ubuntu. All of the splash screens, icons, wallpapers and sounds of Ubuntu are designed, discussed and approved by the Ubuntu Artwork team, and you can help out by examining the current approved Ubuntu artwork projects at https://launchpad.net/people/ubuntu-art/+specs and create something that will fit with what is being planned with the next release of Ubuntu.

Contact:

Testing and Bug squashing

Ubuntu, like any other software, needs good testers. You can contribute to Ubuntu simply by running the latest version and reporting software issues - we call them bugs - and helping to manage those bugs until they are fixed.

Software Testing

All software-specific bugs is the domain of the Ubuntu Bugsquad which is the Quality Assurance (QA) team for Ubuntu. The HelpingWithBugs will get you started.

Contact:

Hardware Testing

All hardware-specific bugs - ie. bugs that only appear when certain hardware or certain combinations of hardware - belong to the the Ubuntu Testing Teams. With each new Ubuntu development release, it is necessary to test whether all of the Ubuntu system and associated applications still work with all kinds of hardware and peripherals. You can help by testing Ubuntu on your own hardware.

General Testing

Contact:

Laptop Testing

If you have a laptop, you can join the Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team for laptop-specific testing.

Contact:

Server Testing

If you run a server, you can join the Ubuntu Server Testing Team for server-specific testing.

Contact:

NB: Please note that none of these channels are support channels per-se, please use #ubuntu for that!

Maintain Ubuntu

If you want to improve the software in Ubuntu, you can help by preparing - we call it packaging - Open Source software for use in Ubuntu and by fixing bugs in the software already included with Ubuntu.

Contributing to the Universe Repository (MOTU)

If you know of a cool application, feature or change available elsewhere in the Open Source world that you would like to have in Ubuntu, you can add it yourself by packaging it for Ubuntu.

All of the non-core packages in Ubuntu are in the Universe repository, and are maintained by the Ubuntu developers who humorously call themselves Masters of the Universe - or MOTUs for short. To get started you can:

Contact:

NB: The MOTUs also maintain the packages for K|Ed|X|ubuntu and the other Ubuntu derivatives, so you if you want to contribute to one of these specifically, you will need to get involved with the MOTUs.

Contributing to the Main Repository

The core components of Ubuntu are maintained by number of specialized teams with their own area of responsibility. If you have a special interest in helping out in one of these areas, you can involved with that specific team.

No matter what kind of contribution you would like to make to the core components of Ubuntu, we recommend that you join the ubuntu-devel and ubuntu-devel-announce mailing lists. All information about technical development passes through those channels.

Desktop Team

If you are especially interested in the Ubuntu GNOME Desktop, you can get involved with the Desktop Team which works to bring the latest cool GNOME desktop stuff to Ubuntu.

Contact:

Kubuntu Team

If you are especially interested in the Kubuntu KDE Desktop, you can get involved with the Kubuntu Team which works to bring the latest cool KDE desktop stuff to Kubuntu.

Contact:

Server Team

If you are especially interested in the Ubuntu Server, you can get involved with the Server Team which works to bring the latest system administration tools and server applications to Ubuntu.

Contact:

Laptop Team

If you are especially interested improving the Ubuntu laptop experience, you can get involved with the Laptop Team which works to improve support for ever growing varieties of laptop hardware.

Contact:

Kernel Team

If you are interested in hacking on the Linux kernel specifically for Ubuntu, you can get involved with the Kernel Team.

Contact:

X Swat Team

If you want to get involved with the Ubuntu version of X.org, a good place to start would be the X Swat Team which maintains X.org in Ubuntu.

Contact:

Write Code

If you want to program brand-new features specifically for Ubuntu or redesign and develop current ones, there are several ways to get you started:

Contact:

Giving Ideas and Feedback

If you have ideas and suggestions on new features and improvements that you would like to see and help bring to Ubuntu, you can:

Remember that in the open source world, work counts more than talk so try to find friends or link up with people who can help turn your vision into reality.

HelpingUbuntu (last edited 2008-08-06 17:00:49 by localhost)