Ubuntu Wiki

   1 [16:01] <czajkowski> Aloha me again :) Many moons ago I started to use Ubuntu and that was me, an Ubuntu user and I was happy.  But I wanted to do more, when I had an issue what did I do or who could I poke/prod and ask for help.  I joined IRC and low and behold a whole new world was available to me.
   2 [16:01] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/10/12/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
   3 [16:01] <czajkowski> I could log bugs, report issues, translate, volunteer and lots lots more. If I can do it anyone and everyone can and I thought in todays session I'd point people in the right direction. As sometimes you just need a push in the right direction in order to help out.
   4 [16:01] <czajkowski> Firstly, EVERYONE is welcome to help and contribute back, you do not have to a whiz in an area but rather be willing to learn and ask questions.  There is no such thing as a daft or stupid or n00b, we all have to start somewhere and the Ubuntu community is one of the most welcoming communities around.
   5 [16:01] <czajkowski> Many peope start off using Ubuntu and want to do more
   6 [16:02] <czajkowski> so I'm hoping in this session to tell you about some areas you may be interested in getting involved in
   7 [16:02] <czajkowski> So now you want to help, where do you go ? There are lots of teams out there and I'm going to highlight some of the ones that are good ways to get involved and introduced to the Ubuntu community!
   8 [16:02] <czajkowski> Accessibility:
   9 [16:02] <czajkowski> Works to improve the accessibility support on the Ubuntu platform and the software that runs on it.  f you have further questions or suggestion you can reach us via IRC (#ubuntu-accessibility), our mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-accessibility  The team is looking for more help with documentation, and testing, so if you want to get on board jump in and give a hand!
  10 [16:02] <czajkowski> So you may not have heard of some of the teams
  11 [16:03] <czajkowski> or not know they are looking for help
  12 [16:03] <czajkowski> many idle on IRC and welcome people dropping by and asking questions and can point you in the right direction
  13 [16:03] <czajkowski> Advocacy:
  14 [16:03] <czajkowski> People like me :) and many of the open week presenters do this
  15 [16:04] <czajkowski> There are lots of people who help out and promote Ubuntu and turn up for weeks like this one and are run by people who want to help and showcase Ubuntu and Free and open source software this is what advocacy is all about.
  16 [16:04] <czajkowski> How can you get others on board without scaring them away.
  17 [16:04] <czajkowski> the thing you have to remembers is not to force open source or Ubuntu on anyone, just talk ro explain to them what its about and let them decide
  18 [16:04] <czajkowski> it;s all about choice.
  19 [16:05] <czajkowski> Why not get involved in your loco team http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/  Help organise events and take part in them by giving demos or short talks ? There is always a way to contribute, by even attending events that other groups like local lugs or user groups are running and talking or showing your laptop working using Ubuntu it spreads the word
  20 [16:05] <czajkowski> so many people first get involved and get on irc via their loco team
  21 [16:05] <czajkowski> you can also volunteer there also
  22 [16:05] <czajkowski> help run  meetings
  23 [16:05] <czajkowski> update wiki websites
  24 [16:05] <czajkowski> mailing lists
  25 [16:06] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: What's a good option for someone who doesn't have much time to spare?
  26 [16:06] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: great question
  27 [16:07] <czajkowski> so starting off small and in your team is a great way
  28 [16:07] <czajkowski> possibly taking a part of a wiki area and seeing if it needs to be updated in your team
  29 [16:07] <czajkowski> always ask for help
  30 [16:07] <czajkowski> or bug triaging which I'll get onto
  31 [16:07] <czajkowski> Art/ Design:
  32 [16:08] <czajkowski> Lots of choice here depending on your choice
  33 [16:08] <czajkowski> The Art Community Team https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork <- For contributing to the art in Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu etc
  34 [16:08] <czajkowski> The Ayatana Design Community   https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Ayatana <- For user experence, design and the science of user interactivity
  35 [16:08] <czajkowski> The "I use Ubuntu and make Art" community  http://ubuntu-artists.deviantart.com/
  36 [16:08] <czajkowski> and finally
  37 [16:08] <czajkowski> many many teams do some amazing artworkd
  38 [16:09] <czajkowski> or create some funky templates for their teams
  39 [16:09] <czajkowski> they add them to a website so we can all use them which is great!
  40 [16:09] <czajkowski> if you have stuff for your team done and want to add it so other teams can benefit from it http://spreadubuntu.neomenlo.org/ <- For contributing to LoCo media (posters etc)
  41 [16:09] <ClassBot> Ethnopunk asked: Is there a way to contribute to making Ubuntu desktop a more productive user experience?
  42 [16:09] <czajkowski> Ethnopunk: yes you can join the Ayatana mailing list and join the discssions there
  43 [16:10] <czajkowski> or join #ubuntu-desktop and talk to the developers
  44 [16:11] <czajkowski> Cloud:
  45 [16:11] <czajkowski> cloud is the new thing everyone wants to get involved in
  46 [16:11] <czajkowski> but many don't know where to turn to
  47 [16:11] <czajkowski> Anyone interested in contributing to ubuntu cloud or server  then why not have a chat with Ahmed Kamal  / Kim0 on IRC   https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AhmedKamal  and he will point you in the right direction and is currently looking for feedback for the next cycle on the cloud and community.
  48 [16:12] <czajkowski> Documentation:
  49 [16:12] <czajkowski> The Doc team is a group of community volunteers responsible for writing, editing, and updating the system documentation that ships with the Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu desktop operating systems. New versions of these guides are available with each new release of Ubuntu
  50 [16:12] <czajkowski> If you want to learn about documentation or get more experience in it or already do it why not help the documentation team.  It's a great way to learn and also there is a mentoring program so if you're shy and want to make sure you don't mess things up too badly, there is a safety net with people there to help you. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam or join #ubuntu-doc
  51 [16:13] <czajkowski> again if you've no experience do not be put off
  52 [16:13] <czajkowski> we all have to learn somewhere
  53 [16:13] <czajkowski> and the best thing is to jump in and just ask
  54 [16:13] <czajkowski> you won't be told off and you get to learn new applications which will benefit you possibly career wise
  55 [16:14] <czajkowski> LoCo Directory:
  56 [16:14] <czajkowski> if anyone hasn't guessed by now I rather love the LD :)
  57 [16:14] <czajkowski> We have a fantastic resource that is the LoCo Directory (LD) and it's being worked on by an amazing group of folks in the community, it's a community driven proect which started off as a blueprint at UDS and has come a long long long way!
  58 [16:14] <czajkowski> BUT! we do know there are some kinks in it, if someone mentions UTC timezones once more to me....... :) We are looking for developers/patches translations ideas on how to help it improve or just to help with the current load of work! http://loco.ubuntu.com/  ask or join in #ubuntu-locoteams
  59 [16:15] <czajkowski> they are currently looking for people to help with CSS and to help work on the bugs that are there at presenr
  60 [16:15] <czajkowski> *present
  61 [16:15] <czajkowski> they are also looking to translate it https://translations.launchpad.net/loco-directory
  62 [16:16] <czajkowski> https://bugs.launchpad.net/loco-directory/+bugs  why not try some of these and ask the developers how to get working on them in #ubuntu-locoteams
  63 [16:16] <czajkowski> Ubuntu Weekly News Letter:
  64 [16:16] <czajkowski> also known as UWN https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter is always looking for more reviewers and writers, why not get on board and help out and learn more about the community. Or pop into #ubuntu-news and ask where you can help
  65 [16:17] <czajkowski> So if you like to write or are good at interviewing people
  66 [16:17] <czajkowski> or even better still reading and summerising work then join here :)
  67 [16:17] <czajkowski> Testing:
  68 [16:17] <czajkowski> Ubuntu Testing Team seeks to improve Ubuntu through structured and exploratory testing of packages and ISO images. We aim to detect as many bugs and issues as possible before CDs are released to the general public.  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing
  69 [16:17] <czajkowski> You can join their mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-quality  or ask in #ubuntu-testing
  70 [16:18] <czajkowski> There are lots of areas to chose from so don't be shy and thinking you can't test! Everyone tests in some manner or another when you do an upgrade or run an unstable release and you enconter an issue, now what do you do? DO you hope it goes away or someone else reports the bug! Why not learn more
  71 [16:18] <czajkowski> lots of areas to chose from depending on your interest
  72 [16:18] <czajkowski> Testing Team Activities
  73 [16:18] <czajkowski> ISO Testing
  74 [16:18] <czajkowski> Daily Smoke Testing
  75 [16:18] <czajkowski> Stable Release Update (SRU) Testing
  76 [16:18] <czajkowski> Feature Testing
  77 [16:18] <czajkowski> General Testing
  78 [16:19] <czajkowski> Application Testing
  79 [16:19] <czajkowski> Automated Testing
  80 [16:19] <czajkowski> Laptop Testing
  81 [16:19] <czajkowski> Bugs
  82 [16:19] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Activities
  83 [16:20] <czajkowski> There are also lots of bugs there sittting waiting there feeling rather unloved as they've been reported and not been triaged or marked as valid or verified why not
  84 [16:20] <ClassBot> hermes asked: How does one start, if he/she wants to start contribution at the Kernel Level
  85 [16:21] <czajkowski> hermes: you can ask in #ubuntu-kernel or https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/BugTriage  learn about how to traige bugs
  86 [16:21] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: If I use my computer for testing, is there a chance that other apps will be damaged by bugs?
  87 [16:21] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: heh
  88 [16:22] <czajkowski> I won't say damage but if you are running unstable releases then you may find things not working the way you'd expect them to do so
  89 [16:22] <czajkowski> Test Drive an Ubuntu ISO in a Virtual Machine
  90 [16:23] <czajkowski> https://launchpad.net/testdrive
  91 [16:23] <czajkowski> very useful tool
  92 [16:23] <czajkowski> Translations:
  93 [16:23] <czajkowski> A lot of teams provide language support and also help with the large job of translations as we do appreciate not everyone speaks English and would like Ubuntu or what ever application they use to be in their native language.   There is a lot of help on their wiki page https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Translations with regular meetings and it gives you lots of pointers on where to get started.
  94 [16:23] <czajkowski> Why not look them up on http://www.ubuntu.com/support/community/locallanguage  or join #ubuntu-translations  or asking dpm on irc for help
  95 [16:23] <czajkowski> Their mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-translators
  96 [16:24] <czajkowski> There is a way for everyone to contribute if you want to.  If you get stuck or don't know where to get involved ASK SOMEONE  you can ask in #ubuntu-locoteams and that's also a great place to hang out in IRC to meet other members from teams all over the world or ask in #ubuntu-community-team
  97 [16:25] <czajkowski> WE have a massive community who are pretty tolerant and will help you if you need help. So don't worry.
  98 [16:25] <czajkowski> Anyone have any questions ?
  99 [16:28] <ClassBot> doctormo asked: did you talk about packaging at all?
 100 [16:29] <czajkowski> Have a look at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/GettingStarted  it links to
 101 [16:29] <czajkowski> all the questions you have in #ubuntu-motu or #ubuntu-packaging
 102 [16:29] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Packaging/Training
 103 [16:29] <czajkowski> or come along to bilalakhtar session tomorow on packaging
 104 [16:30] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: Where can I learn more about advocacy?
 105 [16:31] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: there isn't one set place on the wiki to be honest
 106 [16:31] <czajkowski> you can ask in #ubuntu-locoteams
 107 [16:31] <czajkowski> or the marketing team
 108 [16:31] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam
 109 [16:32] <czajkowski> or #ubuntu-community-team
 110 [16:33] <czajkowski> Anything else ?
 111 [16:34] <czajkowski> nope?
 112 [16:35] <ClassBot> doctormo asked: Is there a way to get involved with teaching or making classes?
 113 [16:36] <czajkowski> doctormo: thanks good questions
 114 [16:36] <czajkowski> you can get involved in both in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Classroom
 115 [16:36] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Learning
 116 [16:37] <czajkowski> both have people there to teach you
 117 [16:37] <czajkowski> but also if there is an area you are good at and want to share with others
 118 [16:37] <czajkowski> you can give a class in here
 119 [16:37] <ClassBot> pawelh asked: I have been trying to get in touch with my country's LoCo, but it seems to be inactive. How can I jump start it?
 120 [16:37] <czajkowski> pawelh what LoCo is this ?
 121 [16:38] <czajkowski> as I said teams are listed http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/
 122 [16:38] <czajkowski> if you team is listed there it SHOULD have a team contact named and contact details
 123 [16:38] <czajkowski> if there is nobody there running it
 124 [16:38] <czajkowski> you can contact me and the loco council https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoCouncil and we can help
 125 === simar__ is now known as simar
 126 [16:39] <czajkowski> well the Polish loco is an APPROVED team http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/ubuntu-pl
 127 [16:40] <czajkowski> they have a mailing list listed ?
 128 [16:40] <czajkowski> so do try adn contact them and see what the story is
 129 [16:40] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: Can I help with the content/presentation for classes even if I'm not very techno savvy?( Was an Instructional designer for a while)
 130 [16:41] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: sure you can do a class on anything just contact the classroom team and they can help set up a session on it for you to run
 131 [16:41] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: I'd say contact the learning team and see what you can sort out and work on
 132 [16:41] <czajkowski> hope that helps
 133 === rodemires is now known as Rodemire
 134 [16:44] <czajkowski> ok well if there are no more questions we can call it a day but if folks ever get stuck and want to know where to get involved you can dm me here on irc or mail me czajkowski @ ubuntu . com
 135 [16:44] <czajkowski> Thanks for coming