Your first open source contribution does not have to be code

Contribute to open source. This is the advice almost everyone in the FOSS community has given or received. Well said. But most newcomers hit a wall, especially the ones who don’t come with a technical background. How do we lower the barrier of entry? Is there a starting point that gently takes someone from being interested to becoming a contributor?

Documentation is one of the most impactful yet underserved areas in open source. It is also one of the most accessible places to begin. The Open Documentation Academy is a free, open programme designed around exactly this idea. It connects people who want to contribute to open source with real documentation tasks on real projects along with mentorship, structured guidance, and a community to work with. This talk introduces the Open Documentation Academy initiative led by technical authors at Canonical and invites new contributors to participate.

If you are looking for an entry point into open source, then this talk is for you.

• Introduction to Open Documentation Academy

• How to join as a contributor

• Collaborate with the academy: bring a project in

• Ideas for writing better beginner-friendly documentation issues in their own projects