Contributing to Gentoo

This article Article description::explains how users can contribute to the development of Gentoo. Users are welcome to contribute to Gentoo, even those who are new! User contributions may help Gentoo run smoothly; there is always room for improvement!

There are many different topics for you to explore; thus, a question for you: What are you interested in?

Those who are interested in becoming a Gentoo developer can start contributing in one of the areas listed below. Developers will see your efforts standing out among other community members (it's good to have a track record of ways you've contributed).

Support the community
You can help users in various support mediums:


 * Answer unanswered forums questions; alternatively, share how you solved a problem or discuss something new on the forums.
 * Join our IRC channels if you prefer instant messaging; the main IRC channel for users is.
 * Subscribe to our mailing lists; the main mailing list for users is gentoo-user.

Document useful information
Gentoo Wiki gathers information about Gentoo; you are welcome to add and edit articles:


 * Start a new wiki article to document a new subject, knowledge or package.
 * Improve existing documentation by clicking Edit at the top right of an article.
 * Translate documentation for readers who prefer languages other than English.

Those who'd like to get involved in documentation should take a look at the Contributor's guide and the Wiki Guidelines.

Report and resolve bugs
Gentoo Bugzilla is where we track bugs of Gentoo and its packages; you are welcome to report, confirm and resolve bugs:


 * Report a bug at our Gentoo Bugzilla whenever you come across an error, flaw, failure or fault; Bugzilla guide provides more in-depth information when you need to provide more details.
 * Confirm new bugs by reproducing them; this helps consolidate the cause as well as highlight severe bugs.
 * Offer solutions for open bugs; patches, ebuilds and links to upstream (or other distribution) bug reports are welcome.
 * Participate in our monthly Bugday, squashing bugs together with Gentoo developers.

Maintain and test packages
The Gentoo tree is the heart of Gentoo; it is important to keep it alive and kicking, that's why contributions to it are very valuable.

If you want to do occasional commits to either the Gentoo tree or an overlay, or become a Gentoo Developer; writing ebuilds is what makes building and installing using a package manager possible on a Gentoo system.

After the first steps, you can learn more in our Development Guide.

The following resources can be helpful when you want to add a new package, update an existing one or find new packages to contribute to:


 * Submit pull requests on GitHub
 * Report version bumps for existing packages at our Gentoo Bugzilla.
 * Submit a new package for the Gentoo tree; when you want to maintain that new package, contact the proxy maintainers.
 * Proxy-maintain some of our orphaned packages.
 * Become an arch tester; for instance, check out the arch teams x86 and amd64.
 * Become a Gentoo Developer and join one or more of the many projects.

External resources

 * How to Contribute to Open Source