Ubuntu fans will already know that there are three more days until the latest version of Ubuntu drops, and we'll be knee-deep in coverage when it does. Shortly after version 9.10, or Karmic Koala, lands on the metaphorical shelves, the next round of development will hit the ground running.

If you're curious about how to get in on the Ubuntu game, next week will be your opportunity to place yourself squarely in the know. Like Filene's in Boston, Ubuntu holds a semi-annual event where everyone is welcome to get in while the getting is good. In the case of Ubuntu, the event in question is the project's Open Week, held at the beginning of each development cycle.

Of course, the development cycle of an Open Source project never really "starts" — the next version, and the version after that are always in the minds of those toiling dedicatedly behind their keyboards. The best jumping-on point, however, is most likely to be just as the new release is finished, and that is exactly the point of Ubuntu Open Week. The event takes the form of an IRC classroom, offering an overview of the project as well as education in its finer points.

According to its organizers, Open Week "[is] a series of online workshops where you [can]:"

• learn about the Ubuntu landscape
• talk to some of the key developers from the Ubuntu project
• find out about the Community and its relationship with Canonical
• participate in an open Q&A with Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu
• much more...

Among the events scheduled for the upcoming Open Week — which runs all next week, November 2 - 6 — are sessions on secure coding, the GIMP graphics editor, AppArmor, bug reporting and bugfixing, Ubuntu Membership, staging Open Source events, netbooks, KVM, and quite a bit more. The full schedule can be found on the Open Week page on ubuntu.com, a full calendar is available as an iCalendar feed, and Open Week updates are available on identi.ca from the Ubuntu Community Team.

The sessions take place in two IRC channels on the freenode network, #ubuntu-classroom and #ubuntu-classroom-chat — while you're in the neighborhood, don't forget to drop by #linuxjournal as well. For those unfamiliar with IRC, and even for those who are, the Community Team has put together a page of helpful instructions. Last but not least, it wouldn't be Ubuntu if there weren't a rule or two — a rundown on the way they do the things they do can be found on the Rules page.

One item of particular note is that, for the first time, Open Week will be multi-lingual — sessions will be available in Spanish as well as English. Those interested in the Spanish-language offerings can find more information on the Open Week ES page, and will meet in the #ubuntu-centroamerica and #ubuntu-centroamerica-chat channels on freenode.
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Justin Ryan is the News Editor for Linux Journal.
Look for him in the #linuxjournal IRC channel.