
Ask HN: Any open-source project in need of a Technical Writer? - philippnagel
I want to get into the field and think supporting an open-source project in that area is a great way to do that.
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rpeden
Most popular (and unpopular, for that matter) open source projects would
probably appreciate someone who wants to write high quality documentation.

A good approach might be to find some projects you're interested in on Github,
and contact them to ask if they'd be interested in someone adding to/improving
their documentation and project wiki. I suspect you'll find projects
interested in this rather quickly. Then, contributing will be as easy as
making a pull request. And that way, any potential employers or clients can
easily verify that you've actually done the work you claim you've done by
looking at your Github commit history.

~~~
philippnagel
Great advice, going through my Github Stars right now.

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adulau
The MISP project[1] which is an open source project around threat intelligence
sharing is actively looking for contributions and supports to write
documentation. There is already a git book[2] which needs some love and
support especially on the aspect of using the platform for analysts or
security operators.

[1] [https://github.com/MISP/](https://github.com/MISP/) [2]
[https://github.com/MISP/misp-book](https://github.com/MISP/misp-book)

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acemarke
I'm one of the maintainers for Redux (
[https://github.com/reactjs/redux](https://github.com/reactjs/redux) ), and
added a couple major sections to the docs. I'm always interested in more ways
to improve the docs, whether it be new information, improving the writing, or
something else.

If you're interested in helping out, file an issue and we'll see what you
might be able to do.

~~~
anilgulecha
FWIW, Redux's documentation is top-notch. Kudos.

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21stio
Maybe have a look on Kubernetes. It's one of the most active projects on
github. Super exciting technology, huge ecosystem, and great community!

~~~
justinsb
And plenty of low-hanging fruit on the documentation :-)

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ikmaak
Hi Philipp, the FreedomBox project could use your help improving the manual.
Anything added up until the 22nd of Jan can still be included in the offline
manual delivered with the project. It is a Debian Pure project, aiming to give
non-technical users the possibility to run their own decentralized
infrastructure on low-cost SBC's. We will do our own sprint the coming days,
and all help would be appreciated :)

The manual can be found here:
[https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Manual](https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Manual)

After that date we would still be interested in improvements to the online
manual, the landing page, and anything else you would want to help out with!

If there are any questions, we are willing to provide all the answers we can
on OFTC #freedombox

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timeout27
Freeplane - a mind map open source project

The freeplane community is craaaving for better documentation that can shed
light to the multiple features of the program. The current docs/wiki are
outdated/desorganized, and this has multiple times been recognized in the
freeplane community as the #1 to priority to make freeplane easy for new users
- new users just have a hard time going onboard because there are no good docs
explaining the simplest things!

And the program is not hard, it's just missing good documentation! The docs
are sometimes called the "missing killer feature" of freeplane. So, If anyone
with experience feels like joining in, it will be a joy for everyone :)

[http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/](http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/)

[https://sourceforge.net/p/freeplane/discussion/docwriters/](https://sourceforge.net/p/freeplane/discussion/docwriters/)

~~~
a3n
Side issue - I've become very reluctant to even click on sourceforge links. I
never know if that's the real, current site, or just an example of
sourceforge's sometimes practice of keeping a project for ... how _do_ they
make money off that scheme? Or is it just not wanting to let go of relevance?

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mustntmumble
I hope you don't mind me hitching a ride on this question, but what is a
'technical writer'? Can someone with excellent composition, grammar, spelling,
and proof-reading skills become a 'technical writer' or does the writer need
to have specific technical domain knowledge?

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ichaib
We, at the Open Bank Project, could do with some help. We are an open source
API for banks
[https://github.com/OpenBankProject](https://github.com/OpenBankProject) \-
ping me if you want to get involved

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b0ti
We are also looking to hire a technical writer for NXLog. If you or anyone
else is interested, feel free to reach out. [https://nxlog.org/contact-
us](https://nxlog.org/contact-us)

~~~
DrScump
Where are you located? I can't find any mention on your website. Also, your
Careers page doesn't list a writing role.

~~~
b0ti
We are remote-only now so you can be located anywhere. The company itself is
in the EU (Hungary). The careers page is a bit out-of-date, it will be updated
soon.

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sinnet3000
Hi,

Osmocom is an open source project that is searching for technical writers. You
can check it out here: [https://osmocom.org/](https://osmocom.org/)

PS. They are offering a free femtocell for contributions.

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cottonseed
Yes! I was just thinking about this, actually. We're building scalable tools
for analyzing genetic data on Spark:

[https://hail.is](https://hail.is) [https://github.com/hail-
is/hail](https://github.com/hail-is/hail)

It's tricky because we need someone who can write, has technical knowledge
(python, Apache big data stack) and some knowledge of bioinformatics and
statistical genetics. There might be an option for some paid work. What's the
going rate for technical writing?

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justinclift
If possible, choose a large/well organised Open Source project which already
has good documentation and people working on it.

That way you get involved with a team of people who should (in theory) already
be following good practises, should have a sensible tool chain, and have
habits you can learn from. And you'll make good
contacts/references/potentially be hired.

(if you're looking to get hired as a potential result, choose a project that
has backers with $$$ that hire from the Community :>)

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grandinj
Libreoffice is a great community and we'd welcome that kind of contribution.
Come visit the documentation@global.libreoffice.org mailing list or
#libreoffice-doc on irc

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jcoffland
The real question is are there any who don't need one?

Your contributions would be more than welcome in my Open-Source project,
CAMotics. It's a CNC simulation software.

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jimmymcarthur
The folks at docs.openstack.org are always looking for contributors :) As
rpeden said, it's important to find a project you're interested in and think
you can contribute to. It takes some time to get the vocabulary down for
various projects, so choose carefully and spend some time making yourself
known to the community and offering to help / learn.

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wolframhempel
Absolutely, we're actively looking for one for
[https://deepstream.io](https://deepstream.io), please find more details here
[https://deepstreamhub.com/careers/technical-
writer/](https://deepstreamhub.com/careers/technical-writer/)

~~~
vram22
Only on site, or remote okay?

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tobylane
Can you tell me about being a technical writer? I've written some
documentation and intend to do more.

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ruslan_talpa
[https://github.com/begriffs/postgrest](https://github.com/begriffs/postgrest)
could use a technical writer and would welcome one

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christopherslee
Just applauding your effort here, not only for being proactive about getting
into the field you want, but also for finding ways to contribute to open
source without having to submit code. Keep it up!

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johnny_reilly
The webpack 2 docs are ripe for improvement - I've been making minor
contributions myself but there's still plenty to do. Checkout WebPack.js.org

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severine
Do you use Xfce? If I recall correct, they asked for writers not long ago.

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salsakran
We'd love your help at Metabase !(www.github.com/metabase/metabase)

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brmunk
You could try contacting realm.io - the worlds 2'nd most used database.

~~~
justinclift
> worlds 2'nd most used database

How do you figure that? ;)

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ExpiredLink
But what is a Technical Writer?

