Finding Help and Giving Back to the Community

KDE is the best-documented desktop environment around, and Kubuntu strives to match that level. Kubuntu currently ships with three documents: the Release Notes, About Kubuntu, and the Desktop Guide, all of which feature specific Kubuntu material and are maintained by the Ubuntu Documentation Team.

Finding Help

Help is found through the Khelpcenter and is organized around applications and then tasks. Khelpcenter is launched either through the K menu under Help, or is available from the main screen or from the start page of Konquerer. Figure 7-52 shows you Khelpcenter.

Figure 7-52. The Khelpcenter.

Accessing KDE Help Manuals

Along with the Kubuntu documents, Kubuntu ships with the help documents for all of the major applications that can also be accessed through the KHelpCenter. These manuals can help solve some of your common problems and answer many of your questions.

The default home page for Konqueror lists the help documents that are shipped in Kubuntu. The list includes the following:

• About Kubuntu

  This includes information regarding Kubuntu and the Kubuntu project.

• Release Notes

  Interested in what is installed by default in Kubuntu? This guide gives a quick overview of what is new and what is supported.

• Desktop Guide

  This document is brand new in Kubuntu 6.06 and will guide you through some of the basic needs for operating your Kubuntu system. A lot of information in this chapter can be found in that guide.

• Packaging Guide

  Would you like to learn how to package applications to give a hand to the Kubuntu project? This guide will show you what you need to create a package that will be accepted by the maintainers.

• Server Guide

  If you are interested in running Kubuntu as a server, this guide will help you get set up. Items that are included are running Kubuntu as a file server and/or a Web server. This is a great resource for more advanced users.

If you still need help after looking in the documentation, Kubuntu provides other means for finding this information. A great place to start is on the IRC channel #Kubuntu, which, as we noted earlier, can be accessed through Konverstation. There are always wonderful and knowledgeable people in this channel who can answer almost any question. If you prefer to use the Web for answers, the Kubuntu wiki, found at wiki.kubuntu.org, has a large amount of information loosely organized with a great search function built in. A third place to find information is the Kubuntu forums at www.kubuntuforums.org. Remember Google is your friend as well. Chances are someone else has come across your problem before and has written a solution to the issue.

Giving Back to the Community

Kubuntu is built around a great community of people who give back what they learn. There are many ways to get involved and share your love of Kubuntu. A great place to find out how you can make a difference is at www.ubuntu.com/community/participate. Not everyone involved has to know how to create packages, understand how their kernel works, or be a great programmer. Kubuntu also has a place for people to write wiki pages or help out with documentation needs.