I have a choice to make:

• Write about Ruby here on DEV, as I've sometimes done.
• Contribute to RubyDoc.

For example, I've recently worked on (and just posted) a piece about Ruby's class Exception:

• About Ruby Class Exception

I wrote it to provide documentation for the class that includes lots of illustrative code -- more that what's offered in the RubyDoc:

• Class: Exception (Ruby 2.6.3)

Now I've discovered that I could instead have offered improved example code for the RubyDoc page itself. It turns out that over at documenting-ruby.org, anyone can submit documentation patches.

Contributing there would have a far greater reach than anywhere else, because RubyDoc is where people go to find out about Ruby, and because RubyDoc is always high in Google's search results.

I can't be proud of my hesitation:

• Here, I'm me.
• In the RubyDoc, I'd be anonymous.

I have to ask myself:

• Do I want to be seen?
• Or do I want to make a bigger difference?

(I think I know what's the right thing.)