The duty to document

If you learn something the hard way, share your findings with others. You have blazed a new trail; now you must mark it for your fellow travellers. Sharing knowledge is an unreasonably effective way of helping others.

I owe a debt of gratitude to those whose knowledge helped me debug software, repair bicycles, choose camping gear, start a business, and deal with anything life throws at me.

I repay that debt by marking my own trails. When I think “it should not have been this hard to find out”, I make it easier to find out. Over the years, I have documented everything from ffmpeg incantations to Uzbek petrol stations, and made a career out of documenting German bureaucracy.

I figure that if you have knowledge that could benefit thousands of people, and it costs you next to nothing to share that knowledge, it’s your duty to do it.

Related ideas

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• All About Berlin was born out of a duty to document