== Open Week -- How to go from user to contributor: Finding your place in the Ubuntu Community -- Laura Czajkowski  -- Tue, Oct 12 ==
{{{#!IRC
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[16:01] <czajkowski> Many peope start off using Ubuntu and want to do more
[16:02] <czajkowski> so I'm hoping in this session to tell you about some areas you may be interested in getting involved in
[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!
[16:02] <czajkowski> Accessibility:
[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!
[16:02] <czajkowski> So you may not have heard of some of the teams
[16:03] <czajkowski> or not know they are looking for help
[16:03] <czajkowski> many idle on IRC and welcome people dropping by and asking questions and can point you in the right direction
[16:03] <czajkowski> Advocacy:
[16:03] <czajkowski> People like me :) and many of the open week presenters do this
[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.
[16:04] <czajkowski> How can you get others on board without scaring them away.
[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
[16:04] <czajkowski> it;s all about choice.
[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
[16:05] <czajkowski> so many people first get involved and get on irc via their loco team
[16:05] <czajkowski> you can also volunteer there also
[16:05] <czajkowski> help run  meetings
[16:05] <czajkowski> update wiki websites
[16:05] <czajkowski> mailing lists
[16:06] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: What's a good option for someone who doesn't have much time to spare?
[16:06] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: great question
[16:07] <czajkowski> so starting off small and in your team is a great way
[16:07] <czajkowski> possibly taking a part of a wiki area and seeing if it needs to be updated in your team
[16:07] <czajkowski> always ask for help
[16:07] <czajkowski> or bug triaging which I'll get onto
[16:07] <czajkowski> Art/ Design:
[16:08] <czajkowski> Lots of choice here depending on your choice
[16:08] <czajkowski> The Art Community Team https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork <- For contributing to the art in Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu etc
[16:08] <czajkowski> The Ayatana Design Community   https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Ayatana <- For user experence, design and the science of user interactivity
[16:08] <czajkowski> The "I use Ubuntu and make Art" community  http://ubuntu-artists.deviantart.com/
[16:08] <czajkowski> and finally
[16:08] <czajkowski> many many teams do some amazing artworkd
[16:09] <czajkowski> or create some funky templates for their teams
[16:09] <czajkowski> they add them to a website so we can all use them which is great!
[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)
[16:09] <ClassBot> Ethnopunk asked: Is there a way to contribute to making Ubuntu desktop a more productive user experience?
[16:09] <czajkowski> Ethnopunk: yes you can join the Ayatana mailing list and join the discssions there
[16:10] <czajkowski> or join #ubuntu-desktop and talk to the developers
[16:11] <czajkowski> Cloud:
[16:11] <czajkowski> cloud is the new thing everyone wants to get involved in
[16:11] <czajkowski> but many don't know where to turn to
[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.
[16:12] <czajkowski> Documentation:
[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
[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
[16:13] <czajkowski> again if you've no experience do not be put off
[16:13] <czajkowski> we all have to learn somewhere
[16:13] <czajkowski> and the best thing is to jump in and just ask
[16:13] <czajkowski> you won't be told off and you get to learn new applications which will benefit you possibly career wise
[16:14] <czajkowski> LoCo Directory:
[16:14] <czajkowski> if anyone hasn't guessed by now I rather love the LD :)
[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!
[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
[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
[16:15] <czajkowski> *present
[16:15] <czajkowski> they are also looking to translate it https://translations.launchpad.net/loco-directory
[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
[16:16] <czajkowski> Ubuntu Weekly News Letter:
[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
[16:17] <czajkowski> So if you like to write or are good at interviewing people
[16:17] <czajkowski> or even better still reading and summerising work then join here :)
[16:17] <czajkowski> Testing:
[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
[16:17] <czajkowski> You can join their mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-quality  or ask in #ubuntu-testing
[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
[16:18] <czajkowski> lots of areas to chose from depending on your interest
[16:18] <czajkowski> Testing Team Activities
[16:18] <czajkowski> ISO Testing
[16:18] <czajkowski> Daily Smoke Testing
[16:18] <czajkowski> Stable Release Update (SRU) Testing
[16:18] <czajkowski> Feature Testing
[16:18] <czajkowski> General Testing
[16:19] <czajkowski> Application Testing
[16:19] <czajkowski> Automated Testing
[16:19] <czajkowski> Laptop Testing
[16:19] <czajkowski> Bugs
[16:19] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Activities
[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
[16:20] <ClassBot> hermes asked: How does one start, if he/she wants to start contribution at the Kernel Level
[16:21] <czajkowski> hermes: you can ask in #ubuntu-kernel or https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/BugTriage  learn about how to traige bugs
[16:21] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: If I use my computer for testing, is there a chance that other apps will be damaged by bugs?
[16:21] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: heh
[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
[16:22] <czajkowski> Test Drive an Ubuntu ISO in a Virtual Machine
[16:23] <czajkowski> https://launchpad.net/testdrive
[16:23] <czajkowski> very useful tool
[16:23] <czajkowski> Translations:
[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.
[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
[16:23] <czajkowski> Their mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-translators
[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
[16:25] <czajkowski> WE have a massive community who are pretty tolerant and will help you if you need help. So don't worry.
[16:25] <czajkowski> Anyone have any questions ?
[16:28] <ClassBot> doctormo asked: did you talk about packaging at all?
[16:29] <czajkowski> Have a look at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/GettingStarted  it links to
[16:29] <czajkowski> all the questions you have in #ubuntu-motu or #ubuntu-packaging
[16:29] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Packaging/Training
[16:29] <czajkowski> or come along to bilalakhtar session tomorow on packaging
[16:30] <ClassBot> anneboleyn asked: Where can I learn more about advocacy?
[16:31] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: there isn't one set place on the wiki to be honest
[16:31] <czajkowski> you can ask in #ubuntu-locoteams
[16:31] <czajkowski> or the marketing team
[16:31] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam
[16:32] <czajkowski> or #ubuntu-community-team
[16:33] <czajkowski> Anything else ?
[16:34] <czajkowski> nope?
[16:35] <ClassBot> doctormo asked: Is there a way to get involved with teaching or making classes?
[16:36] <czajkowski> doctormo: thanks good questions
[16:36] <czajkowski> you can get involved in both in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Classroom
[16:36] <czajkowski> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Learning
[16:37] <czajkowski> both have people there to teach you
[16:37] <czajkowski> but also if there is an area you are good at and want to share with others
[16:37] <czajkowski> you can give a class in here
[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?
[16:37] <czajkowski> pawelh what LoCo is this ?
[16:38] <czajkowski> as I said teams are listed http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/
[16:38] <czajkowski> if you team is listed there it SHOULD have a team contact named and contact details
[16:38] <czajkowski> if there is nobody there running it
[16:38] <czajkowski> you can contact me and the loco council https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoCouncil and we can help
=== simar__ is now known as simar
[16:39] <czajkowski> well the Polish loco is an APPROVED team http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/ubuntu-pl
[16:40] <czajkowski> they have a mailing list listed ?
[16:40] <czajkowski> so do try adn contact them and see what the story is
[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)
[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
[16:41] <czajkowski> anneboleyn: I'd say contact the learning team and see what you can sort out and work on
[16:41] <czajkowski> hope that helps
=== rodemires is now known as Rodemire
[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
[16:44] <czajkowski> Thanks for coming
}}}