# Contributing documentation

Thank you for your interest to help improve documentation in the Nix ecosystem!
This project would not be possible without your support.

## Getting started

Check the overview of [documentation resources](./resources.md).
Documentation contributions should follow the [style guide](./style-guide.md).

Get in touch with the [Nix documentation team](https://nixos.org/community/teams/documentation) if you need more guidance.

:::{important}
If you cannot contribute time, consider [donating to the NixOS Foundation's documentation project on Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/nixos/projects/documentation-project) to fund ongoing maintenance and development of reference documentation and learning materials.
:::

## Feedback

Feedback is also a valuable contribution.
Please share your thoughts in the [Documentation category on Discourse](https://discourse.nixos.org/c/dev/documentation/25).

### Nix beginners

Try to use official documentation as your primary resource, however incomplete it may appear.

Please open issues and report all problems or questions that arise.
Also state your learning goals and the paths you have taken so far.

Sharing your first-hand experience will help guide our efforts and solve recurrent problems with documentation for you and everyone else.

### Nix educators

You will probably have observed where learners get stuck most often, and which typical needs and questions they have.
You may have your own written notes for classes, trainings, or presentations.

Please share your experience to help us improve upstream documentation and beginner materials, so you can focus on providing the best value to your students.

### Domain experts using Nix

If you are proficient in applying Nix to a domain-specific problem, and want to share your expertise on best practices, please check the existing content.
- Does existing material on your subject meet your standards?
- How could we improve it?
- Is there a popular application of Nix' capabilities not yet covered?
- We would be glad to incorporate your insights.

## Licensing and attribution

When opening pull requests with your own contributions, you agree to licensing your work under [CC-BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

When adding material made by others, make sure it has a license that permits this.
In that case, unambiguously state source, authors, and license in the newly added content.
Ideally, notify the authors *before* using their work.

[Add the original author as co-author](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/committing-changes-to-your-project/creating-and-editing-commits/creating-a-commit-with-multiple-authors) to the first commit of your pull request, which should contain the original document verbatim, so we can track authorship and changes through version history.

Using free licenses other than CC-BY-SA 4.0 is possible for individual documents.
By contributing changes to those documents you agree to license your work accordingly.

:::{note}
If you have written a tutorial or guide related to Nix, please consider licensing it under CC-BY-SA 4.0!
This will allow us to feature your work as official documentation if it complements or improves upon existing materials.
:::

```{toctree}
:hidden:

resources.md
diataxis.md
style-guide.md
writing-a-tutorial.md
```