# 2023-06-22 Documentation team meeting notes #57

**URL:** https://discourse.nixos.org/t/2023-06-22-documentation-team-meeting-notes-57/29500
**Category:** Documentation
**Created:** [June 22, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/2023-06-22-documentation-team-meeting-notes-57/29500 "2023-06-22T18:48:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![proofconstruction](https://discourse.nixos.org/user_avatar/discourse.nixos.org/proofconstruction/32/9615_2.png) [@proofconstruction](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/proofconstruction)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/2023-06-22-documentation-team-meeting-notes-57/29500/1 "2023-06-22T18:48:55Z")

</div>

- [Video conference](https://meet.jit.si/nix-documentation)
- [GitHub project board](https://github.com/orgs/NixOS/projects/15)
- [Team details](https://github.com/NixOS/nix.dev/tree/master/maintainers)
- [Past meeting notes](https://discourse.nixos.org/search?q=documentation%20team%20meeting)
- Attendees: @j-k @proofconstruction @fricklerhandwerk @nobbZ @yuki_is_bored @tea
- Notes by: @fricklerhandwerk @proofconstruction

## Agenda

- updates and blockers
- funding opportunities

## Updates

- @j-k:
  - have been getting familiar with how Nix builds documentation
  - ran through Nixpkgs manual with a beginner to explain `stdenv`
    - a lot of usable tutorial-style material, but no good reference
    - would be happy to do fix some low-hanging fruit, such as attribute listings
    - possibly move

- @fricklerhandwerk: requested @yuki_is_bored to be added the NixOS GitHub org, to join the Github team
- @zmitchell: LJWG could use some input on a [tutorial draft for `stdenv.mkDerivation` phases](https://github.com/NixOS/nix.dev/issues/603)
  - currently myself being a blocker for the contributor workflow

- @fricklerhandwerk:
  - Alexandra will start 5h/w on the docs project
  - Jill continuing with summaries on the docs survey
  - I will have some time to work on onboarding documentation in the next months
  - Will be away calendar week 30-33

## Funding opportunities

- [Sovereign Tech Challenge | Sovereign Tech Agency](https://sovereigntechfund.de/en/challenges/)
- what could we do with 65-300k EUR?
  - @zmitchell: hire someone full time to overhaul our documentation infrastructure
  - @yuki: taking care of Nixpkgs and NixOS manuals
    - @proofconstruction @fricklerhandwerk: agreed
    - @fricklerhandwerk: concerned that it takes a huge amount of time to get into context
      - could hire multiple people to work on multiple topics in parallel, would review each other’s work
      - @proofconstruction: would still require an expert for guidance
      - @zmitchell: population of people knowing Nix enough, and having capacity or interest in working part time even if well paid, is probably very small
      - @fricklerhandwerk: could leverage some expertise built up through Summer of Nix
        - should hire for full time work, budget would allow for it

- what would we let paid contributors work on? high-value targets?
  - @proofconstructions: depends on their skill level
    - may require a lot of additional coordination

  - @fricklerhandwerk: Summer of Nix is coming up, mob programming thing is coming up, works really well especially for knowledge-sharing. Could be combined with the documentation effort?
  - @zmitchell: Looking at the Nixpkgs manual; will the recent changes to `nixos-render-doc` make it possible to split the nixpkgs manual into more than one page?
    - @fricklerhandwerk: certainly, but this is a minor issue requiring relatively small changes in comparison to content quality

  - possible topics:
    - @yuki_is_bored: language-specific sections need much more attention
    - @fricklerhandwerk: cross-compilation, Nixpkgs’ super power
    - @proofconstruction: platform-specific `stdenv` variations such as for Darwin
      - @nobbz: docs talk about GNU C compiler, though in reality it is system-dependant which compiler is provided
      - @nobbz: Manual also doesn’t really cover that we have a “default” `stdenv` that would be system dependant, while there are also “specific” `stdenv`s you can choose from if you need a newer/older GCC or Clang specifically.

    - @yukiisbored: `nixpkgs.lib`
      - @fricklerhandwerk: fairly complete, but presentation is clumsy
        - could do more work on [GitHub - nix-community/nixdoc: Tool to generate documentation for Nix library functions [maintainer=@infinisil] · GitHub](https://github.com/nix-community/nixdoc/)

    - @fricklerhandwerk: contribution guides, currently mostly a pile-up of rules
      - @zmitchell: agreed, almost useless; no instructions on testing and quality assurance

  - @zmitchell: Would be a lot easier to work on some of this stuff with funding for it, though it feels weird to say “pay me money!”
    - @proofconstruction: Certainly easier to imagine dedicating more time to this project, moving other projects to accommodate, etc. if there’s non-token money behind the effort. Only concern is effectively using the funds/being as productive as possible with the time, to maximize the ROI for the project.

- @fricklerhandwerk will prepare a draft to discuss next Thursday