UbuntuWomen is a group functioning under Ubuntu to provide a platform and encouragement for women to contribute to Ubuntu-Linux, a free and open-source GNU/Linux software. Membership is open to ALL.

Our Aims

To create a space for Women who want to be involved in technical aspects like :

• create a pool of women developers who can code and help develop software for Ubuntu.
• package/ maintain software to be included in the next release,
• bug triaging on Malone/Launchpad and using Bugzilla,
• testing the current Ubuntu beta version and submitting bug reports,
• writing technical documentation with the Ubuntu documentation team, etc..

Most of the above-mentioned tasks would be under the aegis of Ubuntu-devel or Documentation team and your work will finally converge with the main Ubuntu-Linux team.

What will a separate Women's group accomplish ?

• Programming is highly development-oriented and the vagaries of each distro in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOSS FLOSS] makes it even more difficult in terms of identifying a problem in "X" application, and knowing how to 'fix' it. We hope to increase the diversity ratio by creating an atmosphere for women to communicate openly and ask technical questions without any fear of being flamed or ridiculed for asking so-called silly questions.

• Sometimes you may know or have a vague idea of the packages (the dependency hell, ...) but are still unsure which source files can be modified or how it may affect other applications. The ubuntu-developer lists are limited to highly technical data exchange by developers or package owners may not have time or inclination to mentor newbies. UW members can provide information pertaining to application development, testing, and bug triaging and redirect them to the correct mailing lists or Mentors willing to share their knowledge.
• Its main role will be along the lines of supplementing and being the stepping stone toward the larger Ubuntu-Linux world.
• Encourage women to participate and learn to create new FLOSS software (or revamp existing ones) and not just restrict their skills to using GNU/Linux software.
• Encourage and increase the participation of women using Ubuntu-Linux in a country specific manner by sponsoring their talks at local universities, LUG's and schools which will encourage others to join.

What Ubuntu-Women is not !

UbuntuWomen is not about segregation of women, rather its goal would be to integrate women as equals within the mainstream development of UbuntuLinux. Remember, membership is open to ALL.

Mentors Project

Each-One-Teach-One : Potential mentors are the role models who will share their professional knowledge and technical expertise while directly interacting with the new entrant/s. To be a part of the Mentor team please list yourself at the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWomenMentors Mentors Wiki-page].

Contributing @ Ubuntu

Got an Idea? Do [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWomen/Ideas share it] with us. Get familiar with our online tools like Rosetta (translation), Malone (bug tracking) and you have started out. Ubuntu-Linux has a wide range of opportunities to choose from :

• [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RosettaFAQ UbuntuRosetta] (translation)

• [https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/ UbuntuBugs]

• [http://planet.ubuntu.com/ UbuntuPlanet] (Ubuntu member blogs)

• [https://launchpad.ubuntu.com/ Ubuntu Launchpad]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/ Ubuntu Forums]

• [https://launchpad.net/people/ubuntu-doc Documentation Teams]

MOTU : If you are a programmer and want to start testing, coding or maintain packages join the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU Masters of the Universe] and subscribe to the relevant [https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ Mailing-Lists] set up for those. An IRC channel, #ubuntu-motu-school is available for those interested in maintaining packages, testing or any other software development task. You can also subscribe to the [http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-motu Ubuntu-MOTU mailing-list].

U-W Lists : Subscribe to the [https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-women Ubuntu-Women mailing list] and use this space to discuss or post technical questions. You can share your ideas for new projects with the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWomenMentors Ubuntu Mentors] and contribute to existing technical projects as per your interest.

IRC & Forums : Join the Ubuntu Women support and discussion IRC channel: #ubuntu-women on chat.freenode.net or talk to us at the [http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=76 Ubuntu Women subsection] of ubuntuforums.

Edit / add content to this page : Please [https://launchpad.net/+login create a Launchpad account] first and dont forget to add your name and contact details in your [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpOnPageCreation HomeWikipage] and [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpOnLinking link] it here. More information on editing wiki pages is available [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpOnEditing here].

External Resources

• [http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/UbuntuWomenFAQs UbuntuWomenFAQs]

• [http://women.alioth.debian.org Debian-Women]

• [http://www.linuxchix.org LinuxChix]

• [http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Encourage-Women-Linux-HOWTO.html HowTo Encourage Women in Linux]

• WomenInUbuntu BOF notes from Ubuntu Mataro [Conference]

CategoryUbuntuTeams ["CategoryMOTU"]

CategoryLoCoTeams