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I noticed there are a number of dedicated and helpful members on Ask Ubuntu. Has there been any suggestion to encourage such members to become Ubuntu Members as a recognition of their contributions here (similar to forums)?

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Forums/Membership

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    Not that I'm aware of, but Ask Ubuntu was a large part of my membership.
    – jrg
    Feb 2, 2012 at 22:38

3 Answers 3

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I know of several people from the site who have become members, myself being one of them. Becoming a member is a personal choice so I wouldn't say every awesome contributor has to become one. However, just contributing in Ask Ubuntu typically isn't enough. Membership boards typically like to see involvement in other areas of the community, whether that be with your LoCo, LaunchPad, IRC, Forums, etc; though your reputation and contributions to Ask Ubuntu should certainly be mentioned if anyone is planning to apply for membership :)

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    I am new to askubuntu, but not the community and as such I am a member already, but am interested in growing the community and growing intra-community relations. Taking users new to Ubuntu -> teach them to use Ubuntu -> help them grow outside of askubuntu to contributing members of the community. If there were an interest, I would help developing a pathway for askubuntu. Perhaps you (we) could use the forums pathway as a template, and I would put in a good word for you with the Community Council =)
    – Panther
    Feb 2, 2012 at 22:51
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    @bodhi.zazen Here's the user leagues, it'd be a good start if you want to start hunting people down: stackexchange.com/leagues/31/quarter/askubuntu Feb 3, 2012 at 1:56
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    How much reputation would one reccomend before applying for a membership? I would like an @ubuntu.com email to help spread the word but I have limited time and resources with school. What can I do in an effort to make me worthy enough to apply for a membership?
    – William
    Feb 3, 2012 at 14:34
  • @William: This may help you obtaining Memberhip: askubuntu.com/questions/16403/how-to-get-ubuntu-membership May 7, 2012 at 14:30
  • @William reputation here on this site doesn't particularly influence membership, rather the quality of the contributions you have done drive the membership decision.
    – Thomas Ward Mod
    May 25, 2012 at 15:19
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I really hope that Ask Ubuntu will eventually have a separate avenue for becoming Ubuntu members. Not only does it puts us in par with other official support platforms like IRC and the Ubuntu forums, who already have such platform, it also motivates the contributors to do a little extra towards Ubuntu. I consider it to be a win-win situation.

I don't think this would be in violation of anyone's preferences but rather, act as an appreciation of users' contributions to Ask Ubuntu.

While you can always apply through the general route, it is pretty tricky to explain to the community council what sort of a platform Stack Exchange is. It is also not obvious for them to see beyond the number of answers you have so far. While, we the commoners of Ask Ubuntu would exactly know how useful a certain user is, that user would lose that advantage if he is to apply through a general route.

I don't find the argument that contributing to Ask Ubuntu is not just enough particularly convincing. We already are a thriving community and one that we should be proud of. While I had activity across a variety of community, which helped my Ubuntu membership application get approved, I would like to point out that Ask Ubuntu was a big part of my contribution.

In short, we should go beyond just encouraging Ask Ubuntu contributors to become Ubuntu members and set up a community council specially for that case. I doubt anyone wouldn't want to have that.

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  • I think its been mentioned before, but the amount of red tape that having a Ask Ubuntu community council (due to the NDAs all moderators sign) makes it a big no-no for the moment. In the future, perhaps it will be an option, but right now its not. :(
    – jrg
    Mar 31, 2012 at 13:39
  • The normal CC knows how Ask Ubuntu works. :) Apr 1, 2012 at 16:12
  • See my answer here jokerdino, some info exists there that you may want to read :P
    – Thomas Ward Mod
    May 25, 2012 at 15:19
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There has been some questioning within some of the councils about contributions primarily from here being driving forces of membership. A bunch of the members of here, myself included, have worked on this site primarily, but have other contributions throughout the Ubuntu project. I personally started on IRC, then on ubuntuforums, then here, and now I'm on the Bug Squad and trying to get myself onto other big teams.

Most of the regional councils have been briefed on how Ask Ubuntu works, and myself and jokerdino have both been driving forces for here to be used as primary support stuffs. Regional councils seem to recognize that Ask Ubuntu is an alternate iteration of the Ubuntu forums community, so accordingly support the stuff here.

The NDAs moderators sign prevent an Ask Ubuntu council from being formed, and since this site isnt controlled by the Community Council they can't support a council for just here.

I strongly suggest that strong contributors to here apply for Ubuntu membership. If I know you, I'll give you a testimonial to support you. But I strongly believe that Ask Ubuntu is gaining momentum in the Ubuntu community, and will one day become a driving factor for membership.

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