When it comes to open source communities, most people think of contributing via software development, product testing, and online support. While all these areas are critically important to the community, there are other ways that people can contribute. In this blog post, I would like to list some ideas for people looking to add value to the Xen.org community:
- Documentation – There is always a need for better documentation (especially in multiple languages) . There is an ongoing document project at http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/Xen3.xDocumentUpdateProject; we are always looking for areas to work on and people to assist in writing the documents
- Wiki – The current Xen.org wiki –http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/FrontPage is available in English, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and French. We always need more languages or additional translation for these languages. Wiki Translation page is http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenTranslation
- Event Speakers – The Xen.org community always benefits from people presenting at various events around the world about the Xen Hypervisor and the community. Slides are available in English and Spanish to assist in building a presentation. (Would like to have other languages available as well). Please post on the blog or let me know what events you are speaking at.
- User Groups – Start your own user group! Both Brazil and Italy have groups and I am looking to further expand our global community.
- Xen.org Champions Group – A group of community members interested in sharing ideas and supporting all marketing efforts associated with the Xen.org community and Xen hypervisor. More details at http://xenchampions.ning.com/
- Specific Language Mailing Lists – We currently have a Xen community mailing list for Japanese speakers – xen-japanese@lists.xensource.com – and can easily setup another language if necessary.
- Xen.org Event Participation – Both Xen Summits and Xen Directions events require community support in reviewing and selecting topics for the final agenda; Xen Summit/Directions Program Committee. All community members are encouraged to participate in a Program Committee
- Xen.org Case Studies – Help find or write a Xen case study; showing the user community the value of the open source Xen hypervisor is of great value to the project’s success. Current case studies at http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/Xen_Case_Studies
- Blog, Blog, Blog – The Xen.org community has an open blog for anyone wanting to publish at http://xenproject.lfprojects.linuxfoundation.org. If you wish to become an author, contact me for full rights. I also have a Blogroll on the page and will add any Xen related blog – just contact me.
- Twitter, Twitter, Twitter – I have started to post Xen.org related information as xen_com_mgr and have over 200 followers including several people who are also posting Xen.org info such as XenHypervisor, XceptN, timbury, diegomarino. If you are on twitter, please let me know so I can follow you.
- Social Networks - I am currently aware of Xen related groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, Ohloh, Xing, & Plaxo. You can find links to all these groups at http://www.xen.org/community/. Take some time to answer questions on these groups or post information about Xen. If you are running another group or aware of another network, please let me know.
Of course, this is just a list of possible ways that you can contribute to the Xen.org community beyond the standard develop, test, and support. If you have other ideas please add comments or send me an email. I look forward to the continuing success of Xen and the community.
