Ubuntu Wiki

   1 [18:01] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/10/11/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
   2 [18:01] <devildante> hello everyone :)
   3 [18:01] <devildante> hope you had a nice maverick day yesterday :)
   4 [18:02] <devildante> Let's begin!
   5 [18:02] <devildante> you installed Ubuntu, and you're all loving it
   6 [18:02] <devildante> and now, you want to give back
   7 [18:03] <devildante> but you don't know where to start
   8 [18:03] <devildante> Don't worry! We'll guide you through contributing to your favorite project :)
   9 [18:04] <devildante> And you'll soon see that coding isn't the only way to contribute - in fact, even the tiniest of contributions can be a great help to the Ubuntu project and community
  10 [18:05] <devildante> there is a whole lot of contributions you can make
  11 [18:06] <devildante> for example, you can spread the word about Ubuntu
  12 [18:06] <devildante> There is a lot of people that don't know there is another OS apart from Windows
  13 [18:07] <devildante> So, for example, you can order CDs from Shipit (over at shipit.ubuntu.com), and them distribute them everywhere
  14 [18:07] <devildante> you can give a talk about Ubuntu in your school/place of work/etc...
  15 [18:08] <devildante> or you can convert your friends
  16 [18:08] <devildante> there are some simple "instructions" at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ConvertFriends
  17 [18:10] <ClassBot> cazo asked: So, to "get involved" isn't so easy like it appears... the interesting should be a kind of "sponsor" to get start... but I thing it not possible... is it?
  18 [18:10] <devildante> it depends
  19 [18:10] <devildante> For spreading the word like above, you don't need a sponsor IMO
  20 [18:11] <devildante> If you want to do bug triage (which we will discuss later), you have the option of having a mentor
  21 [18:11] <ClassBot> daker asked: present your self pls!
  22 [18:12] <devildante> well, okay :p
  23 [18:12] <devildante> my name is Mohamed Amine IL Idrissi, I'm 17 years old and I'm part of Ubuntu Bug Control
  24 [18:13] <devildante> I already contributed with code, and I hope to be someday a "high-class" Ubuntu dev :)
  25 [18:13] <devildante> That was the small presentation :p
  26 [18:14] <devildante> okay, let's get to the next topic
  27 [18:15] <devildante> which is donating! you can donate a  small, medium, or big amount of money to the Ubuntu community
  28 [18:15] <devildante> You can donate here: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/donations
  29 [18:16] <devildante> let's continue
  30 [18:17] <devildante> you can do translations! whether it's translating applications, or documentation, you're always welcome :)
  31 [18:18] <devildante> Translating Ubuntu applications, you can do it here: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+translations
  32 [18:19] <devildante> If you have any questions about translating, you can ask on the Ubuntu Translations mailing list here: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-translators
  33 [18:19] <devildante> any questions until now?
  34 [18:21] <devildante> okay, let's continue :)
  35 [18:22] <ClassBot> cazo asked: AbhiJit, back to get involved. I thing I should start getting involveved, doing the joining, but, after that, what premisses? ask to somebody? What directions?
  36 [18:22] <devildante> There is always someone you can ask questions to
  37 [18:23] <devildante> For translations, I mentioned the mailing list at https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-translators
  38 [18:24] <devildante> For other activities, we'll cover it later
  39 [18:24] <devildante> Let's continue, we're a little late, I think
  40 [18:25] <devildante> You can also help others with Ubuntu
  41 [18:25] <devildante> There is a lot of unanswered questions on the Ubuntu Users mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
  42 [18:26] <devildante> or the #ubuntu channel on IRC
  43 [18:26] <devildante> or the ubuntu forums at http://ubuntuforums.org
  44 [18:26] <devildante> or the launchpad support tracker at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+tickets
  45 [18:27] <devildante> or the recently created Ubuntu Stack Exchange site at http://askubuntu.com
  46 [18:28] <devildante> I am confident you all have enough experience to answer at least some questions :)
  47 [18:28] <ClassBot> BigWhale asked: What do to when you can't reach members of a certain project. For example, a program that needs fixing, you create a patch and none of the developers answer your hails, calls, pleas to include or at least review your patch. Who is next in the chain of command? :)
  48 [18:29] <devildante> If for example you submit a patch to KDE and they don't respond, you can propose it for inclusion in (K)Ubuntu
  49 [18:30] <devildante> we don't usually do that, though. we want to stay in sync with the original projects as much as possible
  50 [18:30] <devildante> okay, let's continue
  51 [18:31] <devildante> You can write documentation
  52 [18:32] <devildante> for example, if your monitor isn't working properly and you found a workaround, you can write a community help page to help others that have the same problem
  53 [18:34] <devildante> to do that, read the DocumentationTeam wiki page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam
  54 [18:35] <devildante> it will surely guide you :)
  55 [18:35] <devildante> you can also ask on #ubuntu-doc
  56 [18:35] <ClassBot> drcooper asked: If I know gtk and wants to contribute, but is not familiar with the code or organization of gnome, where do you suggest I start ?
  57 [18:37] <devildante> Start by something you're interested in
  58 [18:37] <devildante> and contact the developers to help you, either directly or on their mailing list (the latter is preferable)
  59 [18:38] <ClassBot> daker asked: is there a specific format for writing a documentation? i mean Software documentation
  60 [18:38] <devildante> If it's for Ubuntu, there isn't a specific one, just follow the general wiki guidelines
  61 [18:39] <devildante> If it's on another project documentation/wiki, that depends, each one has its style
  62 [18:39] <devildante> any other questions?
  63 [18:40] <devildante> okay, let's continue :)
  64 [18:41] <ClassBot> Chell asked: Can you tell a bit about the Karma system. Why is it important?
  65 === yoroy_piepers is now known as yoroy
  66 [18:41] <devildante> It's not *that* important, it just measures your contributions
  67 [18:42] <devildante> It also decays over time, so to let newcomers have a chance against veterans
  68 [18:42] <devildante> Let's continue
  69 [18:42] <devildante> You can create artwork for Ubuntu
  70 [18:43] <devildante> I don't know much on the subject, I'll just let you visit those two links: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork
  71 [18:43] <devildante> And the mailing list:  https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
  72 [18:44] <devildante> You can also see the currently approved projects at https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-art/+specs and start there
  73 [18:46] <devildante> Next, we have bug triaging
  74 [18:46] <devildante> There is a lot of bugs filed in Launchpad, and the list is growing steadily over time
  75 [18:47] <devildante> so there is a group of bug triagers that examines these bugs, verify if they are valid, send them to the original projects, etc...
  76 [18:48] <devildante> This group is called the Ubuntu Bug Squad team, more infos at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
  77 [18:48] <devildante> To see how to help with bugs, see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpingWithBugs
  78 [18:49] <devildante> You can also ask for a mentor to guide you through triaging bugs, you can see how to apply here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad/Mentors
  79 [18:50] <devildante> You can also test your systems, more info at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing
  80 [18:50] <devildante> (I'll speed up a little)
  81 [18:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
  82 [18:51] <ClassBot> xuacu asked: how can we, non technical users, help with bugs?
  83 [18:51] <devildante> A common misconception is that bug triaging is essentially bug fixing
  84 [18:51] <devildante> it is not
  85 [18:52] <devildante> you just verify the bug applies to you, ask for more information relevant to the bug, send it upstream, etc... all things to make the bug ready for the developer to fix
  86 [18:52] <devildante> Let's continue
  87 [18:53] <devildante> If you have an idea that can improve Ubuntu, you can propose it to the Ubuntu developers
  88 [18:53] <devildante> all this is happening at http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/
  89 [18:54] <devildante> The final way to contribute is, of course, programming!
  90 [18:55] <devildante> I won't talk much about it, here's a link for the avid readers: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDevelopment
  91 [18:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
  92 [18:56] <devildante> There is also a session specially for Ubuntu Developement, by Bilal Akhtar at Wednesday 15:00 UTC
  93 [18:57] <devildante> Also, for those who want to help with translating, there is David Planella's session, tomorrow at 14:00 UTC
  94 [18:57] <ClassBot> Chell asked: what skill level is required to help triage bugs? What happens you one screws up?
  95 [18:58] <devildante> already answered, but we'll answer it again for logs :p
  96 [18:58] <devildante> You don't need a high skill level to triage bugs
  97 [18:59] <devildante> If you're not sure of something, you can always ask fellow triagers on #ubuntu-bugs
  98 [18:59] <devildante> any other question? (quick, quick!)