Debian GNU/Linux is a completely free distribution, maintained by volunteers from all over the world.
At this writing, the Debian project is not accepting any new maintainers,
as the process is being reorganized. However, you will need a PGP (2.6.x format)
or a GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) key, which you should get signed by another Debian
developer. You should join the Debian Development mailing lists. You can find
information on becoming a Debian developer at
GNOME, the GNU Network Object Model Environment, is a desktop environment
for Linux and other OSs. GNOME development is coordinated via mailing lists,
and through use of the Concurrent Versioning System (CVS). To get access to
the CVS, send mail to Miguel de Icaza (miguel@gnu.org) and tell him exactly
what you are want to hack upon, and why this requires access. It is a good
idea to join the appropriate mailing lists and following the discussion before
joining the project. Such lists can be subscribed at
If you want to contribute to the Linux kernel, you better not be faint of heart. The linux-kernel mailing list is notorious for the massive flames and holy wars that periodicly erupt there. If you want to contribute a patch, read through the Maintainers file in your /usr/src/linux directory and find who maintains the part of the kernel you want to work on. If you mail a patch, be sure your subject is descriptive (ie "Patch that fixes widget in foo.c" as opposed to "check out this patch!"). Join the Linux-Kernel mailing list (http://www.tux.org/lkml) and lurk for a while to see what needs to be done.