A reader recently wrote to me asking about how to organize docs, especially planning and design docs, in a new open source project. I blogged my response. #WriteTheDocs #documentation https://ddbeck.com/where-do-open-source-docs-go/

@joenash It's even more pervasive than that. The 12-step language of recovery *as* accepting and validating shame is the script in America, more or less.

Though, FWIW, this is the first I've seen of this clip where it was not contrasted with something like the current measles outbreak.

@joenash I like Airalo well enough, though like all esim providers the result can be a little janky (e.g., often you get a sim that is itself roaming to that country, so your IP is in some unexpected 3rd country).

If there's a local carrier/MVNO that sells esims to users abroad, it's often cheaper and better to go that route. (I like Tello for the US.) I can't deny the esim convenience though, so I never bother with local providers if I can't buy in advance from abroad.

If you came to my talk at FOSDEM, "Stop chopping onions and extend Markdown without tears," thank you! My talk page has credits, slides, and further links. (This page works now, if you tried to go to it earlier.) https://ddbeck.com/fosdem2026/

xkcd 2347 is the unofficial logo of FOSDEM

If you're bored and are open for helping out documenting #curl, we have a list of outstanding tasks to work on in the "everything curl" book:

https://github.com/curl/everything-curl/issues

A note on @jmac's "assertions documents," Cunningham's Law, and a skill development pattern in tech writing https://ddbeck.com/notes/cunninghams-law-is-a-core-skill/

@b0rk thanks for explaining! Erin and I kinda glossed over where to get money in our talk. Google's Season of Docs was the only docs-specific funding program that I knew of, but it has sadly ended. Docs funding seems to come through weird one-off sources, or attached to new development work. I ought to write more about this phenomenon.

@b0rk did you do this out of your own interest? Or do you have some kind of funding to do this work?

A brief note on alt text and John Lee Clark's essay, "Against Access" https://ddbeck.com/notes/against-access/

Today's my first workday of the year and some things are slightly unfamiliar again. The new year great time to document something undocumented with a README, while it's still "new" https://github.com/ddbeck/readme-checklist

@joenash This was super interesting—thank you for sharing it. I sent it to my sister, who is an ASL interpreter (though probably more revelatory to me than her, if her interpreting anecdotes are any indication). I'm going to take this as a license to be even more assertive about the way I write alt text, if nothing else.

It's so satisfying to get a tiny typo fix merged into a project that I like. I'm doing my part—even if it's just a couple bytes. https://github.com/zizmorcore/zizmor/pull/1428

At #WriteTheDocs Berlin in October, a few people told me, unprompted, that my README checklist helped them document something. Maybe it can help you document something too! https://github.com/ddbeck/readme-checklist

@jmac what's "well known"? Known to people in other cities? Known out of state? If the latter, maybe "Vegas" counts but "St Pete" doesn't?

Brief notes on my highlights from Write the Docs Berlin 2025 https://ddbeck.com/notes/wtdberlin2025-highlights/

It's the first Monday of the month, which is a great time to document the under- or never- documented software or process in your life https://github.com/ddbeck/readme-checklist

🎃 Season's greetings, friends. I'm seeking full-time or part-time work in software engineering or technical writing.

I have decades of experience in both documentation and engineering. I've also co-founded two nonprofits, co-authored two books, and launched a bunch of other stuff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmcintosh/

I'd prefer to work with stable, established organizations, rather than tech startups, but I’d be happy to discuss any interesting opportunity.

I'm based in NYC, and remote-friendly. DMs open!

Heard at #WriteTheDocs: "I make typos at scale"

After writing about using GitHub Actions for docs automation, I learned about three more static analysis tools worth trying https://ddbeck.com/notes/more-github-actions-static-analysis-tools/