***********************
Appendix B Contributing
***********************

We need help
------------

We’re always making hints about contributing. Lubuntu, like most every open source project out there, relies on the contributions of volunteers to develop as well as to maintain.

…not code
~~~~~~~~~

That does not mean you need to be a developer, either. Though there is some new code we write, this is relatively rare. Including upstream changes in our packaging can be a little advanced, but even that is not the sum total of what we do.
You have the skills necessary.

If you’re nothing more than a user, you can help out with the following without really knowing much more than you already do:

 - `Support and Bug Triage`_
 - `Documentation <https://phab.lubuntu.me/source/manual/>`_
 - `Testing <https://phab.lubuntu.me/w/testing/>`_
 - `Bug triage <https://phab.lubuntu.me/w/bugs/>`_

*And we could always use help with art/graphic design!*

No strings attached
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contributions can be done on an extended basis (making becoming a Lubuntu Member easy) or can be little bits here and there. You can come and go as you like. You can work only on one issue you feel particularly strongly about, or you can get involved over a wide scope.

Free training
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those interested in a deeper understanding of the system or that would like to develop additional skills, the Lubuntu team is happy to provide assistance.

Why not join?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That said, you’re all users, so you all can contribute. For those of you that are not contributing, why not? For those of us that do contribute, we all have responsibilities in real life, including school, work and families, etc. And yet we find a little time here and there to sneak in a little help. What would encourage you to contribute?

Support and Bug Triage
----------------------

Support and Bug Triage contributors are on the front line when it comes to interacting with users and solving problems. They use their knowledge about Lubuntu and Linux as a whole to help users solve problems, and if the problem is on our end, take that and turn it into a bug report that developers can solve.

Support
~~~~~~~

Support is mainly for the purpose of helping users solve their problems. If this is something you would be interested in, join `our support channel <https://phab.lubuntu.me/w/support/>`_ and jump in to assist when someone asks for help. The more active people we have around, the more questions can be answered.

People helping with support might find it helpful to learn `debugging procedures <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProcedures>`_ and have a Lubuntu machine available to be able to reproduce any issues. It is difficult to write a "one size fits all" guide for answering support questions, but idling in the channel and seeing how support questions are typically answered can help.

Besides the support channel, we have a tag on `the Ask Ubuntu site <https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/lubuntu>`_, where people ask more long-form support questions. We also have a topic on `our Discourse forum <https://discourse.lubuntu.me/c/support>`_ and a tag on the `Ubuntu Forum <https://ubuntuforums.org/tags.php?tag=lubuntu>`_.

Bug Triage
~~~~~~~~~~

Bug Triage can be compared to support in many ways, as the end goal of both is the same: try to figure out what the problem is and help the user solve it. With bugs, the approach is different. The user has identified that there is a problem, they have (hopefully) submitted logs, and they would like to see the bug fixed as an update.
