In large open source projects, code often evolves faster than the documentation meant to explain it. Over time, critical docs become outdated, fragmented, or forgotten—leaving new contributors struggling to find their way.

Drawing from my hands-on experience contributing to OpenStack Ironic and Bifrost under the OpenInfra Foundation also under Linux Foundation, I’ll share the real-world process of bringing documentation back to life in a complex ecosystem involving hundreds of contributors and multiple release cycles.

This talk will walk attendees through:

Spotting decay — how to identify documentation debt and prioritize what truly matters.

Building collaboration — practical methods to align maintainers, developers, and writers around shared documentation goals.

Sustaining momentum — using versioning, contributor onboarding, and review cycles to ensure documentation stays relevant long after the first update.

More than just improving text, this session explores how documentation can shape community health, drive inclusivity, and reduce contributor friction—making open source projects easier to navigate and contribute to.

Whether you’re a developer, writer, or project maintainer, you’ll leave with concrete techniques and cultural insights to help you build and sustain better documentation practices—one commit at a time.

This session targets technical writers, developers, and open-source contributors who want to learn how documentation can scale sustainably across large distributed teams.

This talk, but is rooted in my hands-on experience contributing documentation and code to OpenStack Ironic & Bifrost, major OpenInfra Foundation projects under the Linux Foundation

Gerrit contributions: bossfreeman9@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://review.opendev.org/q/owner:bossfreeman9@gmail.com

Bug reports: https://bugs.launchpad.net/~freemanboss

Technical setup: Standard presentation projector and audio; slides will include documentation architecture, community workflows, and real contributor examples.

Preferred duration: 30 minutes (standard conference slot).

Target audience: Technical writers, engineers, DevRel professionals, and community organizers involved in documentation-heavy open source projects.

Previous speaking engagements and community impact:

Hacktoberfest Open Source 101 (ALX Nigeria): https://bit.ly/alx9ja-se-hub-Open-Source-101-HacktoberFest-2025

She Code Africa Lagos (DevOps Deep Dive): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sca-lagos_scalagos-devops-technicaldeepdive-activity-7342914010343792640-Gr2y

AWS Community Day West Africa 2025 volunteer Speaker: https://www.youtube.com/live/2k2kd0njoTY?si=yXXAaMiQHj-EPEqf

MIT AI Global Hackathon Ambassador: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/habeeb-babasulaiman_mit-hacknation-ai-activity-7382700188538146816-8OAR

ALX Software Engineering Tutor & Community Champion: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/habeeb-babasulaiman_as-a-community-champion-at-alx-while-tutoring-activity-7294235175490617344-B1E9

Why this session matters:
As a maintainer, writer, and open-source advocate, I’ve seen how documentation drives adoption and diversity in global projects. Through initiatives like AWS Cloud Club UNILORIN (https://www.meetup.com/aws-cloud-club-at-the-university-of-ilorin
) and mentorship at She Code Africa, I help newcomers bridge the gap between contribution and comprehension — ensuring docs remain a living, evolving part of open source.

Goal:
To inspire a new wave of documentation contributors in Africa and globally by showing that good docs don’t just explain code — they build communities that sustain it.