If you are a Debian user and you want to contribute to the community, then you have your chance this fall with the Debian BSP Marathon. You might know that the next release of Debian, codenamed “Wheezy”, is in the testing phase and your contribution might be helpful to speed up the release date.

So what is a BSP? According to the Debian wiki: "A Bug Squashing Party is a come-together (either virtual or reallife) of Debian Developers and Debian enthusiasts on a specified timeframe where these persons try to fix as many bugs as possible.”

Even if you are unfamiliar with the Bug Tracking System you still can contribute by translating packages and by improving the wiki. There will also be developers who will help you understand the project and help you get the fixes into Debian.

The BSP Marathon will take place over three weeks in parallel across various places around the world.   In the three week emphasis will be put on three different issues and different time periods will cover different issues. Also if there isn't such event being organized in you city then you can take initiative in order to organize it yourself.

The wiki has all the information regarding how to go on organizing such event. Such event will be effective not only in fixing bugs and bringing out the “Wheezy” release sooner but also will help bring the community closer.