Get Involved in Apache OpenOffice
The Free and Open Productivity Suite
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Help Needed
OpenOffice is currently looking for people with the following:
Are you a software developer with C++ skills?
Do you have expertise with build systems for different platforms?
Are you proficient in English?
Do you like contributing to open source projects?
Come and join us in helping OpenOffice to thrive. Subscribe to the
recruitment mailing list
and introduce yourself. We'll help you get started.
Why get involved with the OpenOffice project?
Although many want to
make a small donation
to support Apache OpenOffice and the Apache Software Foundation (we appreciate every
contribution), some users want to do more and volunteer their time and expertise with
the project. There are many motivations for why volunteers participate in an open source
project like OpenOffice. Some of the more common ones include:
To help reduce the "digital divide" by ensuring continued access to free
high-quality free productivity applications world-wide.
To help bring the benefits of OpenOffice to your country or region
To "give back" to open source
To learn or practice a new skill
To enhance a résumé or portfolio, showcasing the work you've done in this project
To support a customer or other commercial venture that relies on OpenOffice
To develop credentials for consulting work related to OpenOffice
To bring something to OpenOffice that you've always wanted to see done
To have fun, working with a close-knit international team of volunteers working on
one of the oldest and most famous open source projects around.
A multidisciplinary open source project
You are not a programmer? Don't worry. Our project involves a large range of different
skills, levels of involvement and degrees of technical expertise. So, if you want to get
involved in OpenOffice, there is almost certainly a role for you.
We are looking for people to:
Work on bug reports and try to reproduce them
Write new or improve existing documentation and about technical topics
Help support new users
Test the program and report problems
Fix bugs
Code new features
Design artwork and other marketing materials
Translate the UI and help topics to different languages
Maintain the website and develop new materials
Promote OpenOffice and help explain its benefits
Anything you can see that needs doing
All of these contributions help to keep a project active and strengthen the community.
We welcome and encourage participation, and try to make it as easy as possible for
people to get involved.
How to get started
OpenOffice is a large, complex open source project, with a culture developed over many
years as an independent project, combined with our experience at Apache.
If you are familiar with Apache-style open source development then you might just jump
in. Subscribe to the
recruitment mailing list
and introduce yourself. We'll help you get started.
If, however, you are new to Apache, or want a more methodical approach to getting started,
then we have a set of graduated
New Volunteer Orientation Modules
designed for new volunteers that takes you through a number of background topics related
to OpenOffice and how we do things.
Which path you take is up to you and is a matter of personal preference. You can even do both.
We also maintain a list of specific areas where we need volunteers on our
Help Wanted
page of the wiki.
If you are a student, looking to contribute to the project as part of your school work,
please also see our
Advice for Students
page.