I bought my n810 as a tool to assist me with my writing and to keep an online gradebook for my students. I quickly fell in love with the device, both its perks and shortcomings, to the point where I almost never break out my netbook anymore.

I also have been pleased to discover the community here and have been following many discussions of people who are trying to push the limits of what these devices can do.

I'd like to contribute and start developing some applications for educators. I think the tablets could do some very cool things in schools. My questions are as follows:

1. What course of study would you suggest for someone who is new to maemo and programming in general? What languages should I learn? What programs should I be familiar with?

2. What can I do as I am learning to contribute to the work of others? Are testers needed? Specific locations to file bugs?

Best,

muffledcry

About filing bugs: https://bugs.maemo.org/ .
Coding... Well, the platform is currently (Diablo software version) mostly C based (GTK+/Hildon), but for Fremantle (next version, Beta SDK available) C++ (Qt) is also officially supported. There are also Python and Java bindings available.

What do you consider is the quickest road? I have already been learning some python. Continue down that road? Or jump ship?

You certainly can program the tablet, its internals are wide open, but there is lots and lots of stuff you can do without having to learn how to program - even pretty technical stuff.

A great way to get involved technically is trying out new applications and filing bugs when you find them, it forces you to be very specific and dig a little into the internals of your tablet. You also get exposed to some important terminology and techniques.

You can also find software you would like to have on your tablet and package it. Packaging software is also an excellent way to get involved if you don't know how to program yet. It is complex and requires a lot of technical knowledge that you can often use later when you know how to program.

Programming is hard though, so be prepared to invest a lot of time should you decide you want to do that. It is very rewarding though.

Definitely stick with python. It is considered on of the easiest languages to learn and it is used everywhere.

I totally agree with jeremiah. Python is quicker and easier to learn than the other languages mentioned and there are a ton of people on this forum who are able and willing to help.

QT is other good choice if you want programing in Maemo Fremantle SDK(Beta). it's my personal advice.