I thank these boards for all the occasions it has helped me through my Linux strife, it's a huge wealth of information and has assisted me numerous times in my searches for Linux fixes and problems.

I don't know what to consider myself in the Linux world. I would say a newbie, but I'm not exactly unfamiliar with the operating system as I have been using it for a few years, but I have absolutely no training in it other than what I find on websites here and there to do the tasks I need.

As a programmer by vocation and hobby, it has always been my dream to be involved in an open-source project of some kind, not just to give back to the Linux community as I have taken so much, but also to expand my skills and to meet other enthusiasts like myself.

For now however that seems a while off as I'm having a world of problems with some basic recovery operations, if you can please help me out here.

Thanks again!

Hi and welcome to LQ, checking out your link now.

First I would like to say Welcome to LQ.org.

As for helping with linux evolution, I don't think you will have a problem. I'm not sure what language you know for programming, but I am sure there are many things you can do. If you know python, you can do stuff like screenlets or maybe make some games with pygame.(I was thinking of python for this reason actually)
Other stuff you can do is Alpha/Beta testing. I know that Ubuntu just released Ibex Alpha 3. And once I get my comp (Debian Lenny) the way I like it this weekend, I am going to be installing Ibex on virtualbox-ose and do some testing like the way things look with their new looks and maybe stress the computer and report the crash, that type of stuff.
You could also do stuff like bug testing. I think every distro has a bug page, along with most open source programs, and you can do stuff like find bugs, find solutions to the bugs, stress the machine and do that type of stuff.
And for the Open Source, two great sites to start with are http://sourceforge.net/ and http://code.google.com/opensource. Just look through them, maybe create plugins for programs. I am sure you can find something to do with your knowledge.

Good luck,
Kyle
#Texasone

Thanks texa, I hope to look into those shortly...

I know a couple different complex languages and have personally written programs for use with Linux en solo, so working with a group should be good fun.

I've always wanted to know what languages in general are in use with programming a Linux like Ubuntu? I'm pretty ignorant to these things, but I'm very enthusiastic.

No problem.
As for the languages are used in a GNU/Linux distro like Ubuntu, I can't really help. All I really know is that the kernel is pure C, just C no variants, and that some eyecandy like screenlets are python, I am sure there is more though.
I don't know if you are just using Ubuntu, but Ubuntu is based off of a snapshot of Debian Sid/Unstable. And in the Debian constitution, it states that all packages and programs released by Debian must include source code. So you could give a try at dual booting or running Sid under virtualbox or vmware and taking a look at the source code to see what the programming of the programs are like. They also sell dvds/cds on the debianshop http://www.debianshop.com/index.php?...&products_id=3 that contain the source code to Debian stable/etch.

Though, the best thing to do would be to make a new thread with a title like "Programming languages used in Ubuntu?" so it would be found faster. And also do the same in the official Ubuntu forums.

Then find a part of GNU/Linux you want to focus on (X, WM/DE's, kernel, apps, drivers, etc...) and just learn it, then go to the next. I actually have the O'Reilly book for the Linux kernel, so that is where I am starting.

Introducing myself here too cause I want to respond to another post in wireless and my response includes links - sorry for the interruption good day all

How rude Rudes.
Welcome to LQ. Hope you will find anything and everything you need.

Those are some awesome guidelines Texasone...

I really wouldn't mind getting my hands sticky with driver development. I've had a few problems in that area myself.

I'm really looking forward to trying some of your suggestions.

Thanks a bunch!

Living up to my name (it's an old handle from another life) Thanks for the welcome

Indulge me with an impromptu intro eh?

Started using linux back in the 90's – man, the hoops you had to jump through to get it to work on a desktop then. Manually configuring lilo or PPP for your dialup link and all that crap

I've been out of the loop for a while but I'm really pleased to see the advances made over the years. I'm an ex-software engineer and used to do linux/Solaris application development for embedded systems.

X86 Redhat/Fedora is my distro of choice – in fact the only other distro I've ever used was Debian for some build servers – on Macs of all things!

I'd like to get around to making some contribution to open source too when I get settled in.

Just setting up my new notebook with fedora 9 and had some problems with the wireless card, got a temporary fix for that until I get a wireless adapter though. Now it's on to the desktop server fitted with one a them thar Cable/TV FM card thingies