Contributor spotlight: Steven Spencer

One of the most neglected parts of any project is its documentation. It doesn't draw as much attention during development cycles as engineering or development, yet the absence of solid documentation is something every contributor, developer, and user has felt keenly. More than frustrating, it's potentially a blocker to project adoption when documentation is insufficient (or sometimes lacking entirely). Developing and maintaining proper documentation is a challenge we're all familiar with, but Rocky Linux has a secret weapon in this regard: Steven Spencer, and the rest of the Documentation team.

A former network and systems administrator now retired, Steven lives in Grand Island, NE. Find him on our Mattermost as @sspencerwire.

Steven's Rocky Linux Story

How long have you been contributing to Rocky Linux?

I came into the project in January 2021 immediately following retirement.

What first brought you to the project?

I knew I’d need something to keep my technical mind active and Rocky Linux needed help with documentation, which I had done a great deal of by creating CYA documents during my former employment life.

What areas do you contribute to?

Generally, just to the documentation side of things, where I create content, edit content submissions, and merge. I do keep tabs on the Community forums, just in case I can add some value there.

What does a typical contribution look like for you -- big or small?

Day to day is pretty calm these days, though I’ve had days where I’m doing multiple merges and then following everything up with editing passes, trying to maintain a consistent voice, tone, and feel to the documentation as a whole. I’m hopeful that current efforts to consolidate documentation under one docs.rockylinux.org umbrella will be successful, too, as that is one thing I think the project desperately needs.

What's a contribution or moment you're most proud of?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a “book” (as defined in docs.rockylinux.org) on using LXD and then transitioned that to incus when it became clear that the main developers of LXD had moved their development efforts to incus. I’m a big believer in this particular container method and continue to use it daily.

What keeps you coming back to Rocky Linux?

I like the challenge it provides me, and the people in the project have always been warm and inclusive. It’s a great organization.

Is there anything you wish more people knew about contributing?

It may seem a bit daunting at times, but there are people here that will help you get there. When I first started here, I knew nothing about git or GitHub, and had never used either. Now I use them both daily. I also knew nothing about Markdown, but now I know a fair amount and continue to learn new things. Don’t feel intimidated--just jump right in and you will get there.

Any shoutouts to fellow contributors you'd like to give?

We’ve had a number of great contributors to the project over the years, starting with Ezequiel Bruni, who helped me immensely when I was starting out, and Antoine Le Morvan, who has contributed a treasure trove of documents to the project over the years. Another standout is Anna Zhyrnova, who has worked both as a translator (Ukrainian) and is our go-to for English and grammar issues. Also, Wale Soyinka, Documentation team lead, who keeps me from getting discouraged.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? A project you're working on, something you're excited about, or a message to the community?

As I’ve said, the documentation consolidation project is a big concern for me right now. I’d like to see buy-in from other contributors who would like to help, as well as willing cooperation from the other teams. When this project started a few months ago, Chris Stackpole (Testing Team) was first to encourage the move of their team’s documentation under docs.rockylinux.org. He assigned Trevor Cooper, whose attention to detail and correctness, made the project smooth and painless for me.