This topic has been replaced by the following resource: https://ubuntu.com/community/contribute
Contribute
The success of the Ubuntu Project depends on a wide community of talented, passionate developers. Anyone with the right technical skills can contribute. If you’re new to the process, you can find people online within the development team to help you along.
There are lots of tools to support your efforts. You can find information about how Ubuntu is built in the developer documentation. It explains how the development team is structured, provides technical information about building Ubuntu, and indexes other useful resources for current and prospective Ubuntu contributors.
Non-technical users
Translation and localisation
If your first language is not English but you have strong English skills, you can make a huge contribution by helping to translate Ubuntu applications into your first language. Even if you just translate a few lines you can make a difference to someone in your own country who is learning about computers and free software.
- Translate software in Ubuntu into your language using Launchpad. Join the Ubuntu-Translators mailing list to stay in touch with other Ubuntu translators.
- Translate documents written by the documentation team. This can also be done using Launchpad
- Discuss translation, fonts and other issues with your local community team.
Documentation
When you find a solution to a problem, you can help others by writing about your experience. Some of the most constructive ways to get involved in the Ubuntu documentation community might be:
- Take notes as you puzzle through a problem. If documentation already exists, you can extend or improve it. If it doesn’t, go ahead and add a page in the help wiki, and write up the answer making it available to everyone. You can read the Wiki Guide for help with this.
- Join the Ubuntu documentation team. Visit the documentation team website for hints and tips on how to get started.
Donating
If you can, consider donating to the Ubuntu Community Donations fund on the Ubuntu website. With its funds we help LoCos with events, fly people to conferences and do all kinds of other great things. Find more information on the fund page.
Technical users
Diagnosing and recognizing problems is an excellent way to contribute – Test pre-release versions of Ubuntu to help find bugs before the final release. Test early and often! – Report bugs you find, and help the development team to analyse them. This is most effective if you run the development branch.
Engaging in technical discussions and providing feedback
- Join a discussion list on the Ubuntu Mailing Lists.
- Chat with others on IRC. You can make a major contribution to the Ubuntu project by helping others use Ubuntu
- Join an email support list or discussion list on the Ubuntu Mailing Lists. The primary support list is ubuntu-users.
- Join the forums and respond to requests for help.
- Join the Ubuntu support IRC channel:
#ubuntu
onirc.libera.chat
- Answering unanswered questions on Ask Ubuntu, and reviewing existing FAQ and the greatest hits for quality and freshness