One of Expert Support’s most productive and satisfying engagements in recent memory has been our three-year collaboration with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), a subsidiary of the Linux Foundation. Through the CNCF’s Documentation Assistance Program, the two organizations are working to strengthen open-source documentation as a scalable community capability across the cloud-native ecosystem. As a result, CNCF has improved its open-source documentation substantially, with more to come.
CNCF recently published this case study that highlights the positive outcomes of our collaboration. This case study cites specific projects that have benefited from the program so far, and includes links to publicly available training, workshops, primers, analysis methodologies, findings, recommendations, and results.
Linux Foundation Launches CNCF in 2015
The Linux Foundation launched CNCF in 2015 as a vendor-neutral home for Kubernetes. Why? Because Google had developed Kubernetes for internal use and decided to release the software as open source. Subsequently, the CNCF umbrella has grown to over 250 open source projects, including projects like Backstage, Vitess, LitmusChaos, KNative, and Flatcar. This community of projects are essential parts of the open-source ecosystem, with many more in the pipeline.
CNCF Turns To Expert Support
In 2023, CNCF engaged Expert Support to help address the tendency for documentation to lag behind code releases. This issue is one of the most persistent challenges in the open-source ecosystem. In short, several systemic, cultural, and structural factors have created this gap, including:
- The velocity of continuous code delivery
- Limited contributor guidance
- Unrealistic audience assumptions
- Maintainer burnout
In response, Expert Support is helping CNCF establish a scalable, pragmatic pathway to improve technical documentation through best-practice education, expert analysis, and writing assistance.
Keep an eye on this space for a more discussion of specific projects that Expert Support and CNCF are implementing to improve both the process and quality of open-source documentation. As always, I welcome your comments.
Paul Gustafson is CEO at Expert Support. A long-time Silicon Valley veteran, Paul has helped hundreds of clients optimize their technical communication strategies.
Expert Support is a leading provider of technical writing and consulting services. We help companies ensure their software documentation is efficient to create, effective for users, and ready for the next wave of technology.