Contributing back to the community

At the Waterloo Region Drupal Users Group meeting a couple of nights ago one of the group members brought up a very valid point about "contributing back to the Drupal community" that I think extends to a lot of other communities. What he said went something like:

"To submit a bug report the community first expects me to check to see if the bug has already been file. If it hasn't I submit my report. Then I might be expected to elaborate a bit more about how the bug came about. After a patch has been issued, I'm expected to test the new patch, and comment back on the patch. If that doesn't work I've got to wait and retest a new patch."

This isn't really what he said, but the gist of it. I understand what he's getting at, filing bug reports can be a chore, especially for someone with limited computer experience. On the flip side of the coin, if you're trying to solve a particular problem, submitting a bug report is one step towards a solution.