Title: Apache Community Development - Welcome
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# Welcome! #
		   
Welcome to the Apache Community Development (ComDev) project!  This website is developed 
by volunteers to *help newcomers* to The Apache Software Foundation (ASF)
and to our many Apache projects take their first steps towards being a *part of our community*. 

Here we provide signposts to information about both
the ASF as an organization, as well as about the over 100 different Apache project 
communities that provide free software for the public benefit.

We do not focus on any
specific projects here, but rather on the common processes and policies 
found in most of Apache projects. Our goal is to help you
*understand how the ASF works* and give you the confidence to participate
more directly in Apache projects that interest you.

# How Can We Help You? #
<a name="Index-Startingpoints"></a>
## Newcomers to Apache

If you are new to open source please read our [newcomers section][1] for some 
explanations of basic concepts, first steps to get started, and places to ask for help.

## Open Source Contributors

If you know a little about open source and want to understand how the ASF works our [contributors section][2] is for you.

## Apache Committers

Apache Committers will should read our [committers section][3] and see the [Developer Information site](http://www.apache.org/dev/).

## How To Ask Questions

All Apache projects use publicly archived mailing lists that anyone may subscribe 
to and/or send mail to to ask about that Apache project.  Most projects have at least a 
dev@$project.apache.org mailing list for technical discussions about the code, and a 
user@ or users@ mailing list for questions about the product or features.

The ComDev project has our own mailing list where you can ask general questions 
about Apache at [dev@community.apache.org](http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/community-dev/).

## Event Organisers and Speakers

We have a [list of speaker resources][4] for both conference organizers and speakers.

For a list of current events, our [calendar section][5] contains an aggregation of foundation wide calendars, along with
the [official conferences calendar][6], including ApacheCon, BarCamps, and more.

## Google Summer of Code program (GSoC)
The Community Development project also manages the [ASF's participation in the Google Summer of Code program][7].

<a name="Index-ManagingtheCommunityDevelopmentproject"></a>
# Managing the Community Development project

Many volunteers work together to manage this website and other tools available 
to help people learn more about the ASF and Apache projects. If you'd like to join in, please contact the 
ComDev mailing list at dev@community.apache.org.

## Managing This Website 

Volunteers use the [Apache CMS](http://www.apache.org/dev/cmsref.html) system to manage 
this website.  The AOO project has created a great tutorial on [how to use the CMS][8].

You may email us with suggestions, or preferably [use the CMS to create a patch](http://www.apache.org/dev/cmsref.html#non-committer) for 
our volunteers to look at and consdier applying to this site.

## Community Development Governance and History

This project is managed by the Apache Community Development Project Management Committee, 
made up of volunteers who are committers at the Apache Software Foundation.

 * [Original board resolution](comdevboardresolution.html)
 creating this Community Development (ComDev) project
 * [Current ComDev Board Reports](comdevboardreports.html)
 * [Other public records of the ASF](http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/)
 * [Anootated listing of All Apache Projects](http://projects.apache.org/)


  [1]: /newcomers/index.html
  [2]: /contributors/index.html
  [3]: /committers/index.html
  [4]: /speakers/index.html
  [5]: /calendars/index.html
  [6]: /calendars/conferences.html
  [7]: /gsoc.html
  [8]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcDZN3Lu6HA