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On 9/4/07, Dossy Shiobara <dossy -at- panoptic -dot- com> wrote:
> I haven't (personally) seen much evidence of tech. writers
> contributing documentation, manuals, etc. to open-source software
> projects.
>
> Why do you suppose this is?
I've considered joining a project as a tech writer, but a few things
have stopped me.
First, it can be daunting to figure out exactly *how* to get started.
Recently, I looked into joining an OSS Eclipse plug-in project (it
provides an interface for MySQL and other databases). The project
specifically requested new contributors (I think it might have even
asked specifically for writers), and had a forum for new people to
post to. I posted with a brief bio, explaining that I have 12 years of
writing experience, and 8+ years of hobbyist-level Java experience.
While other people who posted got a response, mine never did. So, I
simply forgot about it.
Another time, I wanted to contribute to a project, but I couldn't tell
if they *needed* a writer. Their docs were actually pretty doggone
good. And, again, there was no central contact for new contributors,
so I had no way (that I could figure out) to find out if they needed
any more writers.
Then there's the issue of needing to learn new tools in order to start
contributing. If you don't know how to use CVS, you're pretty much
dead in the water for most OSS projects. I know enough about CVS to
basically be dangerous. I use Subversion at work, which is a
derivative of CVS, and have managed to not cause damage, but I can't
say I'd be as comfortable with uploading content to a shared
repository for an OSS project. (I do realize that I would not be able
to commit changes at the outset, so this is probably not that big a
deal.) Some projects require other tool knowledge, such as XML for
documentation. If I have to learn a new tool to start contributing,
I'm probably not going to be as interested.
And finally, there's the issue with finding a project that both
appeals to you, and needs you. Part of the joy of doing OSS is knowing
that the people who use the tool appreciate you, and want you to be
doing what you're doing. We, as writers, need a place to find out
about the different projects out there that actively *want* writers,
editors, indexers, technical artists, help designers, and so on. I
could have sworn someone on the list several years ago suggested
creating such a repository, but I don't believe I've heard anything
about it in the meantime. (If there *is* such a resource, please do
tell me about it!)
--
-David Castro
thejavaguy -at- gmail -dot- com
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