&gt; That seems like a very good way for bad documentation to get out, damaging the project.<p>Read the code, try your best to understand it, and then get the documentation reviewed by someone who <i>does</i> know the software well.  This works for code, too.  Bonus points:  Explicitly enlist feedback (&quot;Anything I&#x27;m missing here?  Any edge cases I forgot to note? Is my understanding of this correct?&quot;)<p>&gt; I for one would be hesitant to tempt the wrath of the Great Unseen Masters that make open source software with potentially inane questions.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.catb.org&#x2F;esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.catb.org&#x2F;esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html</a><p>But if you&#x27;re making an effort to contribute, that already counts for a lot.  There might be some gruff redirection towards more effective means of contributing, if you&#x27;re being a significant time sink and not helping that much, but hopefully that&#x27;s a win&#x2F;win in the end.