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From YouTube: A healthier open source ecosystem, one doc at a time: A conversation with The Good Docs Project
Description
The Good Docs Project wants to help improve software documentation across the entire open source ecosystem (and beyond!). The community provides templates and other resources to help open source developers write, maintain, and improve documentation of their work. Last year, they voted to migrate to GitLab. And since then, they've discovered how using an all-in-one DevSecOps platform can streamline and accelerate work in open source communities like theirs.
Now they've joined the GitLab Open Source Partners community, sharing their knowledge and resources with other open source projects also using GitLab to build a world where anyone can contribute. In this interview, Bryan Behrenshausen (GitLab's Senior Open Source Program Manager) chats with several members of The Good Docs Project to learn what motivates their workâand when they plan to unveil their next major release.
**Learn more**
Meet The Good Docs Project: https://thegooddocsproject.dev/welcome/
Comment on The Good Docs Project's templates: https://thegooddocsproject.dev/feedback/
View other GitLab Open Source Partners: https://go.gitlab.com/030Ue3
A
Hello,
everyone
open
source
program
manager,
Brian
here
with
some
great
news.
The
good
docs
project
is
the
latest
open
source
project
to
join
the
gitlab
open
source
partners.
Program.
I'm
delighted
today
to
sit
down
with
several
members
of
the
good
docs
project
to
learn
more
about
their
mission
and
their
projects
and
to
learn
so
we
can
learn
rather
about
ways
that
the
entire
git
lab
open
source
Community
can
engage
with
them
and
learn
from
them.
A
C
C
C
E
B
G
H
G
A
Awesome
always
good
to
have
licensing
nerds
on
the
call
thanks
so
much
everyone
for
being
here,
especially
since
we
are
officially
straddling
four
different
time
zones
and
we're
doing
it
with
Panache.
So,
thank
you
all
for
being
here
and
allowing
us
to
have
this
conversation.
Let's
get
started.
You
know
right
at
the
beginning,
tell
me
a
little
bit
about
the
good
docs
project.
What's
your
mission,
what's
your
vision,
what
are
you
committed
to.
B
Oh,
let
me
type
in
that
question
so
right
from
the
start,
when
we
started
this
project,
what
we
aimed
to
do
like
we
went
out
and
we
said:
let's
go
in
and
write
documentation.
You
looked
around.
Where
was
the
best
practices
and
they
were
in
blog
posts.
They
were
in
you
know,
document
a
document
over
here
there
were
presentations
that
people
were
talking
about
and
we
didn't
really
have
like
a
key
place
where
all
of
this
was,
and
so
we
sort
of
said,
hey.
Let's.
Let's
do
that.
B
Let's,
let's
be
that
Force,
let's
be
the
dream
team
that
pulls
all
of
this
together
and
I'm,
going
to
spin
off
that
and
say,
and
why
open,
source
and
I
think
one
of
the
things
that
us
as
Tech
writers,
where
typically
the
Singleton
in
a
much
larger
team
or
a
much
larger
organization,
and
where
we're
always
the
the
the
little
bit
of
like
it,
would
be
a
nice
to
have
to
get
your
documentation
better.
But
there's
always
like
a
quick
fix
that
you
could
put
in
place
and
what
we
are
able
to
do.
B
By
being
collectively,
all
helping
is
all
of
us.
People
who
are
all
feeling
the
pain
of
wanting
to
do
and
write
good
documentation
if
we
actually
all
collectively
pull
all
this
together.
That
is
the
the
the
key
place
where
open
source
really
really
thrives.
Is
everyone
going
in
and
being
passionate
and
and
bringing
it
together
to
solve
a
much
bigger
problem
that
no
one
individually
can
solve
by
themselves?
Yeah.
A
A
A
A
G
I
could
take
this
one
I'm
sure
others
have
have
their
own
point
of
view
too.
But
my
angle,
when
it
comes
to
working
as
a
tech
writer
as
a
ux
Content
strategist,
is
that
the
tech
that
we
make
frequently
unintentionally
hurts
people
like
there's
a
lot
of
psychological,
passive
harm
that
just
happens
in
the
world,
from
people
being
confused
or
stressed
out
about
some
piece
of
technology.
They
need
to
use,
but
it's
unclear
what
they
need
to
do,
or
it's
even
being
correct
about
what
they
need
to
do.
G
These
things,
whether
it's
a
Singleton,
Tech
writer,
who's
overwhelmed
or
maybe
just
a
bunch
of
developers
who
don't
have
a
tech
writer,
but
they
want
to
be
able
to
get
it
out
there
and
have
some
way
of
saying
where
do
I
even
start
with
with
documentation
being
able
to
produce
something
that
doesn't
that
reduces
some
of
that
continual
technological
harm
that
goes
on
every
minute.
Every
day,
interesting
yeah.
A
Yep
and
and
then
you
know
to
follow
up
on
that
again-
Cameron
hinted
at
this
a
little
bit.
You
know
with
the
with
the
the
commenting
on
the
spirit
of
of
the
open
source
project.
You
know
why
undertake
this
as
a
specifically
Community
oriented
open
source
project,
you
know
doing
things
that
you
can't
do
by
yourself
totally
understand
that,
but
they're
you
know,
that's
also
a
reason
that
people
form
for-profit
companies
right.
So
why
do
this
as
an
open
source,
endeavor.
B
If
no
one
else
wants
to
take
this,
this
might
be
my
mine
too
yeah
it.
There
is
Big
tech
companies
who
are
going
in
and
writing
style
guides.
You
know
Microsoft
Google,
they're
they're
doing
it,
but
quite
often
they
have
an
internal
focus
and
they
do
it
internally,
and
the
business
case
internally
to
push
out
and
do
it
collectively
across
the
whole
industry
is,
is
not
there.
There's
always.
You
know
something
more
important
that
gets
the
intention.
B
B
A
D
C
It
yeah
so
a
year
now
and
I
think
we
have
about
57
members
within
the
organization.
It's
like
you
know,
accounts
we
have
added
in
as
membership
roles
to
something
and
that's
been
growing.
So
that's
nice,
we're
getting
new
people
onboarded
all
the
time
and
then
in
terms
of
helpful
features.
I
think
there's
some
others
that
might
I.
Think
what's
interesting.
Is
it's
a
big
enough
project
and
we
have
enough
different
slices
of
the
thing
that
we,
you
know,
there's
some
people
working
on
website
and
content
management.
C
There's
some
people
who
are
doing
project
management,
template
delivery,
there's
a
lot
of
pieces,
blogs
and
blog
writing
and
video
editing
and
like
there's
a
lot
going
on
so
I
think
that
the
features
of
gitlab
probably
impact
different
groups
in
different
ways,
because
it's
it's
a
whole
platform.
Not
just
you
know,
code
repository,
it's
more
than
that,
so
maybe
I'll
I'll
say
that
and
then
leave
it
up
to
whoever
feels
compelled
to
fair
enough
yeah.
H
Yeah
just
to
segue
off
of
that
a
little
bit,
because
what
Brian
said
is
what
kind
of
I
found
to
be
one
of
the
biggest
benefits
of
it?
Is
it's
it's,
this
very
kind
of
TurnKey
platform.
That's
been
helping
us
organize
and
become
like
a
central
source
of
Truth
for
everybody
working
on
the
project,
and
we
had
you
know
we
come
from
from
something
that,
in
my
opinion-
and
maybe
some
of
the
folks
who've
been
here
for
a
while,
would
back
this
up.
H
It
was
something
that
we
were
just
we
were
just
pushing
and
pulling
from
is
literally
we're,
mostly
using
it
as
code
repositories,
where
we
found
a
lot
of
great
stuff
in
git
lab
that
that
lets
us
organize
what
we're
trying
to
do
like
on
a
release
level.
You
know
seeing
what
the
temperature
of
all
the
different
tasks
are
that
are
scheduled
for
the
coming
release
and
giving
us
a
really
nice
like
project
wide
view
where
we
can,
you
know,
sort
of
dial
into
what's
going
on.
F
C
Add
to
that
just
one
comment,
which
was
that
Elise
and
I
were
kind
of
in
the
background
before
being
like
gosh
I
wish.
We
could
just
do
this
in
gitlab
like
because
we
both
use
it
in
our
day
jobs.
You
know
we
use
gitlab
professionally
too
so
you're
like
oh
there's,
these
nice
features
and
if
we
had
that
it'd
be
really
nice,
and
so
you
know
I
think
it
was
just
one
day
we
were
like.
You
know
what
let's
migrate.
Let's
talk
about
migrating
and,
let's
create
a.
C
We
have
like
a
request
for
change
process
and
we
were
like
let's
propose
this
and
see
what
people
think
and
kind
of
got
that
ball
rolling,
and
you
know
it's
it's
moved
forward
since
then,
and
has
been
so
far
successful
so
yeah.
So
it
was
a.
It
was
kind
of
an
interesting
like
the
exposure
to
it,
the
knowledge
of
like
what
it
could
do
and
what
we
knew
we
had
with
the
other
system
that
we
were
using.
You
know
it
allowed
us
to
to
make
some
good
proposals
and
that's
all
public.
C
A
D
Yeah
I'll
take
that
one.
So
the
main
project
that
we're
working
on
in
the
good
docs
project
is
the
templates
project
right
now.
That's
where
we're
creating
templates
for
all
of
the
major
content
types
that
are
used
in
a
variety
of
documentation,
projects,
we're
prioritizing
templates
that
are
used
in
most
documentation
projects
and
we're
also
creating
templates
for
Niche
cases
or
use
cases
or
specialized
markets
as
well.
D
And
so
when
we
have
a
a
template
release,
it
basically
represents
all
of
the
kind
of
great
template
work
that
has
been
done
by
our
community
in
that
period
of
time.
And
then
we
just
we
use
gitlab
to
tag
that
release
bundle.
It
all
up,
write
the
release,
notes
and
provide
the
release,
notes
and
then
ship
it
out
to
our
community.
A
Cool
yeah
I
was
reading
your
blog
and
you
forgive
me
because
I
forgot,
which,
which
one
of
you
authored
the
the
piece,
but
it
was
talking
about
you,
know,
writer's
block
and
one
way
of
overcoming
writer's
block
is
not
beginning
with
a
with
a
blank
page
right
and
I.
Think
you
know
the
the
sort
of
crisis
of
documentation
we
often
see
in
open
source
projects
is,
you
know,
comes
down
in
many
ways
to
that.
A
That
sort
of
the
the
fear
of
the
blank
page
right
when
you
have
when
you
have
to
write
documentation
and
there's
nothing
in
front
of
you
and
you
have
to
spin
your
wheels
to
kind
of
figure
out
what
you
want
to
say
and
how
you
want
to
say
it
and
how
you
want
to
format
it.
How
you
want
to
organize
it?
That
is
time
that
most
developers,
I
think,
would
want
to
spend
on
their
project
right,
developing
their
code,
not
that
the
documentation
is
not
part
of
the
project.
D
And
then
a
lot
like
building
off
of
what
you
were
just
saying.
A
lot
of
our
templates
are
designed
to
be
used
by
non-writers,
specifically
so
people
who
feel
a
little
bit
of
imposter
syndrome
or
nervousness
about
creating
documentation,
we're
really
trying
to
empower
them
and,
as
you
say,
get
over
the
blank
page
so
that
so
that
they
can
create
better
documentation
and
put
better
documentation
out
of
the
world,
because
there's
just
so
much
stuff
in
the
world.
That
needs
to
be
documented
and
not
enough
people
to
do
the
documenting.
A
D
I
was
really
hoping,
we'd
be
joined
by
Deanna,
one
of
our
community
members
she's.
Also
a
community
manager
with
me.
She
couldn't
make
it
tonight,
but
Deanna
in
particular,
has
spearheaded
a
template
that
we
use
that
we
have
built
on
get
lab,
we're
spinning
up
a
new
Hugo
website
and
we
call
it
the
good
dogs
website.
Okay,.
H
D
And
it's
for
training
people
on
how
to
use
git
and
get
Labs
specifically,
because
a
lot
of
the
people
who
join
our
community
might
not
have
that
strong
technical
background
or
background
in
get
in
gitlab.
And
so
we
build
this
this
this
demo
site,
so
that
people
can
practice
using
with
using
git
and
specifically
in
a
git
lab
context
and
teach
them
those
skills,
because
git
can
be
really
intimidating
for
people
who
don't
know
it
at
first.
D
Yes,
they
are,
and
we
are
going
to
take
it
in
a
new
direction
for
our
next
release.
We
used
to
just
have
them
be
workshops,
and
one
of
the
things
we're
going
to
do
is
make
them
more
self-directed
so
that
you
can
just
work
with
with
our
repository
and
get
set
up
and
teach
yourself
how
to
do
get
with
some
guided
mentorship
along
the
way
as
being
part
of
our
community
right.
A
G
It's
really
easy
to
just
use
that
and
and
just
to
get
to
enjoy
nature
while
I'm
working
so
like
it's
great
to
have
an
environment
where
I
get
to
decide
how
I
actually
get
to
work
instead
of
feeling
like
I
have
to
be
Tethered
to
a
machine
that
is,
you
know,
configured
in
a
really
specific
way.
So
I
really
really
like
that.
That's.
A
A
C
E
Sure
so,
like
Elisa
I
mentioned
our,
we
built
the
chronolog
I'm,
sorry,
the
goodex
project
builds
templates
and
so
the
chronolog
team.
What
it
does
is
that
we
take
those
templates
and
then
try
to
build
documentation
using
them.
So
we
act
as
a
kind
of
we
test
the
the
templates,
the
the
quality
of
the
templates
and
So.
E
A
E
A
B
And
that's
building
on
what
Valerian
is
doing.
There
is
not
only
are
they
testing
the
templates
but
they're
building
an
example
as
that,
and
that
then
becomes
one
of
our
deliverables.
The
the
example
that
you
provide
that
that
developers
can
go
and
look
at
at
an
example
version
and
the
chronologue
is
literally
a
time
machine.
Looking
back
in
time
in
space,
it's
sort
of
a
fun
project
and
a
fun
example
of
it,
with
real
apis
to
a
fake
example,
right
right.
A
That's
pretty
neat
I
like
that
yeah,
because
I
mean
what
is
the
sort
of
the
unit
test
for
documentation.
You
know
what
is
how
do
you?
How
do
you
run
a
test
on
on
documentation
right
I
mean?
Maybe
you
all
have
some
good
ideas
for
how
you
can
sort
of
automate
checking
of
of
documentation
and
quality,
but
just
having
somebody
sit
down
and
try
to
use
the
thing
and
produce
an
example,
a
mock-up
is
pretty
great,
pretty
great
way
to
do
it.
C
Side
project
within
it,
that's
ramping
up
now
that
we're
we're
really
starting
to
put
some
time
into
is
a
like
a
doc
tools
registry
that
will
help
people
find
tooling
and
Tool
Stacks
that
can
help
them
build
their
own
documentation
systems.
So
it's
not
just
the
templates,
but
you
know
what
pieces
of
the
puzzle
can
you
assemble
and
how
would
they
work
and
are
they
compatible?
C
Is
there
some
way
to
make
them
compatible
with
the
godox
template
so
like
a
way
to
ingest
those
or
create
those
as
archetypes
or
something
like
that,
so
the
the
good
docs
registry?
You
know
it
was
a
pain
point
that
I
had
when
I
joined.
The
good
docs,
which
was
I,
have
to
create
a
documentation
system
where
the
heck
do
I
start
like,
of
course,
I
need
to
make
documentation,
but
how
do
I
make
one
all
we
had
were
word
docs
and
we
need
something
better
than
that.
C
So
what
do
I
do
and
and
trying
to
find
and
scour
the
web
and
do
all
this?
So
the
the
good
docs
registry
or
the
doc
tools
registry
excuse
me
is-
is
a
place
that
somebody
can
come
to
kind
of
explore
the
landscape
of
technology
and
tooling
that
can
help
them
deliver
good
documentation.
So
that's
that's
a
big
effort
right
now,
yeah.
G
D
Yeah,
since
you
mentioned,
what's
on
the
horizon,
2022,
we
wrapped
up
a
really
big
list.
Listen
to
her.
We
went
to
several
technical
writing
conferences
and
polled
many
many
many
technical
writers
to
talk
about
what
important
content
types
do
you
think
we
need
to
create
documentation
or
templates
for
and
and
we
got
tons
of
great
feedback
on
that
and
we've
just
finished
kind
of
distilling
it
and
turning
it
into
our
roadmap
going
forward.
So
we
are
excited
to
offer
for
in
on
June
15th
we're
going
to
have
our
first
1.0
temp
release.
D
You
need
to
start
an
open
source
Community,
since
we
really
care
about
open
source
quite
a
bit
and
then
moving
forward,
we're
going
to
take
all
the
additional
insights
that
they
gave
us
last
year
and
we're
building
that
building
out
future
templates
that
we
want
to
provide
to
the
greater
world.
After
that,
so
that's
some
exciting
things
we
have
coming.
That's.
A
Congratulations
on
getting
this
far.
That's
fantastic
I'll!
Look
forward
to
reading
all
about
it
on
your
blog
and
checking
it
out
on
gitlab.
If
anyone
else
is
interested
in
your
mission
and
wants
to
connect
with
you
wants
to
collaborate
with,
you
not
just
use
the
materials
in
the
release,
but
maybe
get
involved
in
the
project
and
contribute
something
of
the
their
own.
What's
the
best
way
for
them
to
do
that.
D
Okay,
I'll
take
that
one
too,
so
we
have
just
implemented
this
year,
something
called
Welcome
Wagon
meetings,
where
we
hold
a
couple
of
meetings
regularly
throughout
the
month
where,
once
people
have
filled
out
the
form
you
can
come
and
get
and
get
a
little
bit
of
an
orientation
meeting
about
our
project
and
the
things
that
we're
working
on
and
then
we'll
sit
down
and
have
a
one-on-one
conversation
with
you
about
what
you're
hoping
to
get
out
of
contributing.
What
skills
are
you
hoping
to
develop?
D
B
A
templates
are
good
enough
that
we
we
can
support
many
more
people
than
needing
to
hand
hold
everybody
which
has
sort
of
been
we're.
A
very
friendly
Community.
We've
got
I'm
so
proud
of
what
a
diverse
Community
we've
been
able
to
build,
but
yeah.
We
are
now
on
a
point
where
we
are
starting
to
reach
out
to
users
as
well.
G
Yes
and
I'd
say
that
like,
even
though
we're
like
our
goal
is
to
make
it
so
that
people
can
just
take
our
templates
and
run
with
it.
If
anybody
is
using
them
and
has
feedback
for
us,
we
could
use
that
you
incorporate
that
feedback
into
future
releases,
possibly
like
if
it
makes
sense
to
as
part
of
the
template
or
maybe
there's
confusion
about
it,
and
one
of
the
things
that
we
also
want
to
do
is
to
create
some
sort
of
usage
guidelines
or
best
practices
or
like
in
your
situation.
G
D
A
Fantastic,
that's
great!
Well
again,
thanks!
So
much
for
for
joining.
Truly,
it's
been
my
pleasure
to
to
to
chat
with
you
and
and
to
welcome
the
good
docs
project
to
the
gitlab
open
source.
Partners
Community
I'm
really
excited
about
all
that.
We're
gonna
learn
from
you
and
and
just
thank
you
for
all
the
work
you're
doing
for
the
open
source
ecosystem.
I
know
everybody
really
appreciates
it.