Aggregate Computing - Ideas for Linux

Hi, I'd like to get involved in the Linux community, but I have very little programming experience. I've been trying to help work on themes and skinning ideas, but I've recently come up with another idea. Specifically, I'm wondering what Linux is doing to get new users that have been attracted to the OS involved in improving the OS. The world seems very enamored of the idea that a lot of little contributions add up to a big change. If everybody contributes even the tiniest amount of information, expertise or experience, it makes a huge difference. Microsoft, Apple, Google and other companies invest a huge amount of energy in collecting information about their users. This information is aimed at not only improving the security of the product, but at providing a competitive advantage for the parent company and its subsidiaries. Google's ability to organize aggregate information like this has made it one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Despite this investment in energy, these corporations are forced to gather their information discreetly - they have to install hidden programs that tell the company more than it needs to know, and they never tell the users what information they're keeping in the first place. It all seems very cloak and dagger, and the main reason for this secrecy seems to be competitive advantage and profiteering. Seeing that these motivations are more or less inapplicable with a free OS system, doesn't it seem like this could provide some sort of PR advantage to Linux? Doesn't it seem more likely that people are willing to give their information over to an entity that they don't believe will turn around and use that information against their own interests? To me, it seems like this could be extended to many aspects of Linux in order to provide information for streamlining the design and implementation of new program initiatives, and could potentially be used to involve casual users in aspects of community based on how they use their machines. Here's a little thought experiment, for emphasis: Imagine you are installing a distro of Linux for the first time. You finish your install, and there is an icon/widget on the desktop or program launcher that says "n00b." You click on the icon and are directed to a webpage that is a FAQ for new users of Linux. "OK," you say, and you stop paying attention to the icon. A few weeks later, you boot your computer and realize that the icon is different. Your computer has paid attention to your activities, noting what programs are in use the most, and it now reads "Programmer." Confused, you click on the icon, and it brings you to a page that says "Linux community: Programmers" and a guide to getting involved in Linux projects that new programmers are working on, and a list of things that your current group classification takes as personal points of pride. Granted, 99% of the people who use Linux might not ever even click on something like this, but those who do notice it might be interested to see how they change and progress through subclasses in the Linux community. Those who get put into a class that disagrees with them might go online to figure out HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN A CLASS THAT BETTER REPRESENTS THEM. Either way, it draws people into the Linux community and provides them a framework for involving themselves in a project at the entry level that might benefit the whole, all while keeping their use of their operating system linked to their sense of self, which, let's face it, is part of why we all use Linux as a home desktop. I want to find projects that are linked to the social side of computing - linked to involving people in a community in a way that is transparent and helpful. Obviously, management of this data is a sticky issue, and it's something I'd also like to learn about. At the same time, it has potential to be immensely useful. Please let me know if you have any ideas who I should contact.

Joe, interesting and good idea. thanks you ess. another look angular.