Why Content (no, Not Just Docs) Needs More From the Open-Source Community

Why Content (no, Not Just Docs) Needs More From the Open-Source Community - Kassian Wren, NetApp Instaclustr Code isn’t the only thing that makes an open-source project. There’s time. Nearly all unpaid time. Time spent cursing at failing integration tests, crafting PR comments, etc. People willingly give their time to create these projects out of passion and drive. Content tells the story of how a project is used; not just in a vacuum. It’s much more than documentation; it’s tutorials of all levels, how-to guides, blog posts, release notes, issue tracking and comments… it’s a web of links and text that makes up the context of the project and how it is used. So, who should write the initial story and context of an open-source project: the team that wrote it and technical writers working closely with them, or users and companies? You can’t control it all, but you can certainly put your best foot forward with some good content to go with a project’s documentation. So why do so many projects leave the story of their code to others? This talk will cover: - What content means - How it’s made and who makes it - Why it’s more than documentation - Why it’s hard to generate content in open source - Working with third parties to generate content - What you can do (today) to help