If you need help using Octave, you have many options, from reading the Octave manual, asking for help on the mailing lists, chatting online with other Octave users, or paying for commercial support.
The Octave community is a loosely organized association of volunteers. Please keep in mind that the people answering your questions on the mailing list or IRC channel, or helping to fix the bug you reported are doing so as volunteers.
A printed version of the Octave manual may be ordered from Network Theory Ltd . Any money rasied from the sale of this book will support development of free software. For each copy sold $1 will be donated to the GNU Octave Development Fund.
If you are new to Octave, you may have some questions that have been asked and answered a few times before.
The Octave Wiki is a great place to look for information about things that are not covered in the manual (ex. Google Summer of Code, Octave Conferences, etc...).
Join our Irc channel on #octave channel at irc.freenode.net. The atmosphere is relaxed and chat isn't restricted to matters strictly pertaining Octave.
If your question isn't answered in the FAQ, the manual or the Wiki, help@octave.org mailing list is a good resource.
Community support can be great, and with the Octave community it often is, but sometimes you need to know that your question will be answered. We maintain a list of people and organizations who offer commercial support contracts for Octave. This list is available as a service to the community and the support providers. The Octave project does not provide endorsements or recommendations.